The Pirates of Somalia

What a pleasant surprise as I had no expectation of this film being as good as it is. Good storyline based on fact, well cast and good acting. Thoroughly recommend this one.

I found this film to be very intriguing. When I started it, I was expecting a documentary type film on pirates in Somalia made famous by the terrific film "Captain Phillips".

About 10 minutes in, I realized this was going to be a lot more then an action/Drama film on the exploits of Somalian Pirates. What you get in this way better then average movie is a man who yearns to be a published writer/journalist. He tries his hand at some very uninteresting subject matter and then sees the news reports in the Hijacking of the cargo ship "Maersk Alabama" by Somalie pirates and, after some research, that NO Western journalist has ever truly entered the world of Piracy in that region of Africa.

He is Canadian (Evan Peters who plays real life journalist Jay Bahadur) and gets his parents to finance an adventure to a life completely unknown to him in Somalia.

Without giving more of the film away, I can say that the true elements of how Piracy got its start in this poor and almost forgotten African nation and more importantly WHY it happens to this day. It gives the viewer a really different perspective on the story of these proud people who have a history of culture and used to settle disputes with poetry, not violence. I enjoyed the way the protagonist explores the realities and history of the Somalie people rather then exploit the violence often used by the very nature of piracy.

This is a must see for anyone who is interested in the culture and reasons behind why piracy is a way of life for peoples of this region.

A very well done film. Definitely recommend.

Biographies and movies based on true events will always draw my attention especially when the theme has an interesting story or is about a person that accomplished something not everybody else would or could do. In this case it's about the first Westener that showed any interest in Somalia and their problems, and that had balls big enough to risk his life almost daily. Evan Peters did a good job playing this character, one of his better roles. Good job from Barkhad Abdi also. The bigger names in this movie barely appeared in the story so not much to write about them. Interesting story with some good acting.

This type of docufilm is not my cup of tea as I'm more into the action/tension type films, but I still found it entertaining, informative and a well put together production with great casting, directing, writing and cinematography. Although the pace was too slow for me, still a great watch and thus a 8/10 from me.

This black comedy has twenty-something Canadian Jay Bahadur (Evan Peters) with dreams of becoming a journalist but no clear path towards reaching that goal. One day he hits upon the dubious idea of traveling to Somalia, a very dangerous country where no Western journalists will go out of fear, and writing a book about the coastal pirates. Once there, he learns about the local culture while also clumsily causing havoc. Featuring Barkhad Abdi as his friendly translator, Al Pacino as a journalistic mentor, and Melanie Griffith as Jay's mother. Also appearing are Coral Pena, Russell Posner, Kiana Madani, Maria Vos, and Philip Ettinger.

Peters is good in the lead, a goofball who makes up in courage what he lacks in common sense. Abdi, who played the lead Somali pirate in Captain Phillips, is also excellent as the cheerful local. Pacino and Griffith have little more than cameos. The film seems to be trying for a mix of Salvador and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, with many of the dangerous situations offset by humor. It doesn't always work, and the movie could have been 20 minutes shorter, but it's still a somewhat interesting glimpse at a foreign culture.