A Hollywood director latches onto an inspirational true story, flushes any parts of it that might make it seem less inspirational and releases it late in the year, hoping for possible Oscar consideration.

That is exactly what director Paul Greengrass did with “Captain Phillips,” and while it is entertaining enough as a thriller, it falls apart due to historical inaccuracies and a lack of perspective. This is nothing new.

The movie tells the true story of Rich Phillips, the titular captain of a cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Africa in 2009. Phillips (Tom Hanks) was eventually taken hostage by the pirates in a small lifeboat before being rescued by the U.S. Navy.

The story is fascinating and deserved to be made into a movie, but preferably only if the movie was accurate and fair. Sadly, that is where “Captain Phillips” falls apart.

Hanks’ role as Phillips, who is portrayed as selfless and quick-thinking in the face of danger, is well-played. The problem is that, according to the captain’s real-life crewmembers, his recklessness is what got them into that mess in the first place.

Phillips apparently ignored repeated warnings to stay away from the Somali coast due to rampant piracy in that area. The movie shows him skimming over an email about piracy early on, but other than that, this part of the story is completely ignored.

The other main problem with “Captain Phillips” is that it is fairly one-sided. The Somali pirates are mostly depicted as bloodthirsty psychopaths who just want money. While they most certainly are not heroes in real life, a little bit of context is needed to understand why they do what they do.

Somalia has been a lawless state for some time now, and without a functioning coast guard, Somali waters have been overfished and used as waste dumps by vessels from around the world.

Many of Somalia’s pirates are former fishermen who feel obligated to protect their waters from outside intrusion.

The pirates in “Captain Phillips” get about 30 seconds to explain themselves, but for the rest of the movie, they are generic villains. Again, their actions are not exactly justifiable, but they are explainable, and the movie does a poor job of doing that.

These problems bring down what is an otherwise well-made and entertaining action thriller. Greengrass paces the action well, and Hanks gives a solid performance. Sadly, “Captain Phillips” suffers from historical inaccuracy and oversimplification of complex issues.