Considering that shaw shank redemption is the best movie ever, going by imdb ratings, to give captain Phillips a 9 rating would rank in like the top 15 movies ever, all going by imdb ratings. Although captain Phillips was a great movie, I don't believe it merits a 9, maybe an 8.6 at best, due to the long periods of nothingness that hinders the quality of the movie. Some would argue that these "nothingness's" was creating the plot or telling the story, as it was based on a true story, it still needs something to fill the void created by the long waits were nothing is happening. Also another factor contributing to the "low rating" by your standards, (although 8 is a high scorer), is possibly the fact it is a true story, which may have hindered the scoring, taking nothing away from how it was depicted or the acting of the pirates or tom hanks, but it requires no imagination to re tell a story, although it was retold in a gripping manor when the movie opened up and got rid of the "nothing ness", but it requires skill and imagination to think of a good story line aswell as an interesting plot to keep the viewer interested which is why shaw shank redemption got such a high score due to somebody thinking all of it up and presenting it in a great way. Due to this, my conclusion is that an 8 is a good score, but potentially a realistic score the movie could of achieved is around the 8.4 to the 8.6 mark and that would be generous.