Captain Phillips is a multi-layered depiction of the hijacking of the American container ship Maersk Alabama by a group of Somali pirates in 2009. The fact-based film focuses on the relationship between Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two-time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks, Best Actor, 1993, Philadelphia; Best Actor, 1994, Forrest Gump) and Somali pirate captain Musem (Barkhad Abdi ) whose Phillips is held hostage. When Muse and his men target Phillips' unarmed cargo ship, the course is inevitably collision-driven. As a result of a confrontation, there is an impasse. Both men have no influence over the course of events and are at the mercy of forces over which they have no control.