The Finest Hours - directed by Craig Gillespie
*screened 17/01/2016 but embargoed until 26/01/2016
Starring: Chris Pine, Holliday Grainger, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Eric Bana, Kyle Gallner, Graham McTavish, Abraham Benrubi, John Ortiz, Josh Stewart
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rated: TBC - No notable violence or profanity - no nudity or sex
Honestly the trailer for this movie left me cold.
Admittedly fatigue had set in because I saw it way too often due to the number of times I saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at IMAX but even on the first viewing the trailer left me thinking that it would be a good movie to miss.
Aside from the blandness presented there is the problem that I nearly always have with these kinds of stories - lack of investment.
"The Perfect Storm", "Into the Storm".... any movie with bad weather and people struggling to survive often only has that one point of interest - will they make it?
This can be rendered less compelling if the characters don't gel.
The trailer for "The Finest Hours" gave me a 'I don't care about these people or their plight' reaction.
Given the chance to see it a couple of weeks from release though I gave it a shot.
Based on true events and using Casey Sherman's 2009 book of the same name as the basis "The Finest Hours" tells of the oil tanker SS Pendleton stricken off the coast of Cape Cod and the attempt to rescue the stranded sailors onboard.
In fact the Pendleton was one of two tankers that were cut in two during wild storms in 1952 - so violent were they.
The hero of the piece is Bernard (Bernie) Webber- a young Coast Guard man.
We first see him nervously meeting Miriam (Holliday Grainger) for their first date.
Fast forward a little and she has proposed to him (yes- she to him) and so as a courtesy he must ask his commanding officer's permission to marry her as is the Coast Guard way.
But the storm and the torn in two Pendleton get in the way.
Instructed to select additional men and go out in a small boat to attempt to rescue whoever they can the first challenge is to cross the bar.
The bar marks the point in the rough seas where the incoming waves form a massive rolling peak that is all but impossible to cross over when seas are as rough as they are at this point.
It is explained that there is a strong possibility that the waves will flip the boat end over end which is impossible to survive.
In fact all around him from experienced local fisherman to colleagues tell Bernie that he would be better sailing around for a while then coming back claiming that the bar could not be crossed.
Bernie is a man bound to his duty and a sense of what is right and ignores their well-meaning advice.
Taking three other men (played by Ben Foster, Kyle Gallner and John Magaro) Bernie pilots the small rescue craft CG 36500 out towards the bar.
The men don't know exactly where the ship (half ship) is or even if they can make it over the bar.
Just as concerned is Bernie's fiance Miriam who takes the frowned upon step of showing up at the Coast Guard station to ask what is happening and to demand that the commanding officer (Eric Bana) order the boat back.
Cleverly the movie divides its time three ways at this point.
Firstly we have the surviving crew of the ship lead by Casey Affleck (giving a great performance) trying to stay afloat long enough for the rescue that they aren't sure is coming.
Affleck's unpopular engineer knows the ship backwards and comes up with a radical plan to keep the crew alive.
Secondly the rescue boat braving the appalling weather and ridiculously rough seas as they try to get to the ship.
And finally Miriam and the people ashore who don't know if anyone is coming back alive.
The three pronged storyline makes this a far more interesting movie than it might have otherwise been.
Having already seen some of the dynamic between Miriam and Bernie the stakes are higher as they do become in a pretty short time a couple worth caring about.
The cynical viewer might describe this movie as Titanic meets The Perfect Storm but to me even if this works as a sort of crude marketing description it is also an injustice.
Chris Pine is very good as Bernie but English actress Holliday Grainger ("Cinderella", "Jane Eyre", "Anna Karenina") is the standout.
This kind of role teeters perilously close to becoming a whining, annoying nag of a woman if the script and/or the performance allow but in both cases we are on the right side of it and Grainger is excellent.
The desperation seeps out of her otherwise brave and honourable demeanour in just the right amount and I stayed firmly on Miriam's side even as I appreciated that her wishes were unreasonable given the job that Bernie and his colleagues were charged with doing.
I was surprised to find myself enjoying this movie before anything really drastic had happened.
Yes, the tanker splitting in two was nicely done but it was the performances and the production design that hooked me first.
I love this era - the old cars, the fashion, the dynamic in the romantic scenes.
There is something about the 1950's that seems purer- more innocent.
Passion is shown with no sex or profanity and the noble, almost boy-scoutish nature of Bernie is believable (and in fact true to life).
Director Craig Gillespie who did such a great job on the hugely fun remake of "Fright Night" maintains a steady pace and doesn't go for any cheap thrills.
It keeps the movie grounded and believable.
He handles the effects very well and the rendering of the wild oceans is wonderfully realistic.
Effects house MPC do great work here - check them out - LINK
The casting deserves special mention because apart from Pine and Bana (in a pretty small role) the actors are all lesser known names with better known faces.
We have Josh Stewart ("The Dark Knight Rises" and the voice of CASE from "Interstellar"), Graham McTavish ("Rambo", "The Hobbit" trilogy, videogames Uncharted 2 and 3), Rachel Brosnahan ("Beautiful Creatures", Netflix's "House of Cards"), Abraham Benrubi (tv show "ER", "Open Range") and Kyle Gallner ("American Sniper", "Beautiful Creatures")
Every performance is excellent and after only fifteen or twenty minutes I was really enjoying this movie.
I really want this movie to do well but I fear that many will react to the trailer the way that I did.
This is a hard movie to sell on audiences who have already seen movies with less restraint such as "Twister", "The Perfect Storm", "Into the Storm", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "San Andreas" but "The Finest Hours" is cut from entirely different cloth and is better than all of them.
Yes, there is a little bit of "Titanic" about it but this comparison disappears very quickly when you see the final film.
(Not to disparage Cameron's blockbuster which I have always liked - link)
There is a lot of subtlety to the performances and the great restraint that is shown in not going over the top with the events portrayed means that when the film wants to tug at your emotions it does so in a far more effective way.
The three central figures played by Pine, Affleck and Grainger are so well written and portrayed that the film earns these emotional moments via character.
It's a rare thing in this genre.
There are no Dwayne Johnson 'Now we rebuild' speeches under billowing American flags or 'Don't you say your goodbyes' lines - it isn't that sort of movie.
Even the 3D is restrained and whilst I normally advocate the techniques usage in the chuck-stuff-in-the-audience's-faces style a more subtle use is the better choice for this film.
In the scenes on the Pendleton the 3D is used to show the size of the ship and the horrific damage.
Waves are given depth in the rescue boat shots and it really does add much to heighten the drama.
I found this movie touching and exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Equal parts romance, drama and adventure it works without the need for flashy effects and cheesy lines yet manages to be emotionally engaging and thrilling exactly when it needs to be.
It's a finely made, wonderfully acted movie that never outstays its welcome at a lean hour and fifty minutes with credits.
This one is far better than the poster and trailers would have you believe and deserves to be seen for many reasons but specially so that studios understand that there is room for smarter takes on this type of subject matter.
RATING: 77/ 100
CONCLUSION: A genuine surprise. A wonderfully crafted movie with great performance, a wonderful Carter Burwell score, cinematography from the great Javier Aguirresarobe and skilled direction from Craig Gillespie. An adventure film of the type not often made these days.
*screened 17/01/2016 but embargoed until 26/01/2016
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rated: TBC - No notable violence or profanity - no nudity or sex
Honestly the trailer for this movie left me cold.
Admittedly fatigue had set in because I saw it way too often due to the number of times I saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at IMAX but even on the first viewing the trailer left me thinking that it would be a good movie to miss.
Aside from the blandness presented there is the problem that I nearly always have with these kinds of stories - lack of investment.
"The Perfect Storm", "Into the Storm".... any movie with bad weather and people struggling to survive often only has that one point of interest - will they make it?
This can be rendered less compelling if the characters don't gel.
The trailer for "The Finest Hours" gave me a 'I don't care about these people or their plight' reaction.
Given the chance to see it a couple of weeks from release though I gave it a shot.
Based on true events and using Casey Sherman's 2009 book of the same name as the basis "The Finest Hours" tells of the oil tanker SS Pendleton stricken off the coast of Cape Cod and the attempt to rescue the stranded sailors onboard.
In fact the Pendleton was one of two tankers that were cut in two during wild storms in 1952 - so violent were they.
The hero of the piece is Bernard (Bernie) Webber- a young Coast Guard man.
We first see him nervously meeting Miriam (Holliday Grainger) for their first date.
Fast forward a little and she has proposed to him (yes- she to him) and so as a courtesy he must ask his commanding officer's permission to marry her as is the Coast Guard way.
But the storm and the torn in two Pendleton get in the way.
Instructed to select additional men and go out in a small boat to attempt to rescue whoever they can the first challenge is to cross the bar.
The bar marks the point in the rough seas where the incoming waves form a massive rolling peak that is all but impossible to cross over when seas are as rough as they are at this point.
It is explained that there is a strong possibility that the waves will flip the boat end over end which is impossible to survive.
In fact all around him from experienced local fisherman to colleagues tell Bernie that he would be better sailing around for a while then coming back claiming that the bar could not be crossed.
Bernie is a man bound to his duty and a sense of what is right and ignores their well-meaning advice.
Taking three other men (played by Ben Foster, Kyle Gallner and John Magaro) Bernie pilots the small rescue craft CG 36500 out towards the bar.
The men don't know exactly where the ship (half ship) is or even if they can make it over the bar.
Just as concerned is Bernie's fiance Miriam who takes the frowned upon step of showing up at the Coast Guard station to ask what is happening and to demand that the commanding officer (Eric Bana) order the boat back.
 |
| Chris Pine, Holliday Grainger and Casey Affleck - great performances from an excellent cast |
Firstly we have the surviving crew of the ship lead by Casey Affleck (giving a great performance) trying to stay afloat long enough for the rescue that they aren't sure is coming.
Affleck's unpopular engineer knows the ship backwards and comes up with a radical plan to keep the crew alive.
Secondly the rescue boat braving the appalling weather and ridiculously rough seas as they try to get to the ship.
And finally Miriam and the people ashore who don't know if anyone is coming back alive.
The three pronged storyline makes this a far more interesting movie than it might have otherwise been.
Having already seen some of the dynamic between Miriam and Bernie the stakes are higher as they do become in a pretty short time a couple worth caring about.
The cynical viewer might describe this movie as Titanic meets The Perfect Storm but to me even if this works as a sort of crude marketing description it is also an injustice.
Chris Pine is very good as Bernie but English actress Holliday Grainger ("Cinderella", "Jane Eyre", "Anna Karenina") is the standout.
This kind of role teeters perilously close to becoming a whining, annoying nag of a woman if the script and/or the performance allow but in both cases we are on the right side of it and Grainger is excellent.
The desperation seeps out of her otherwise brave and honourable demeanour in just the right amount and I stayed firmly on Miriam's side even as I appreciated that her wishes were unreasonable given the job that Bernie and his colleagues were charged with doing.
 |
| Eric Bana, Chris Pine and Kyle Gallner - just three of the well chosen cast |
Yes, the tanker splitting in two was nicely done but it was the performances and the production design that hooked me first.
I love this era - the old cars, the fashion, the dynamic in the romantic scenes.
There is something about the 1950's that seems purer- more innocent.
Passion is shown with no sex or profanity and the noble, almost boy-scoutish nature of Bernie is believable (and in fact true to life).
Director Craig Gillespie who did such a great job on the hugely fun remake of "Fright Night" maintains a steady pace and doesn't go for any cheap thrills.
It keeps the movie grounded and believable.
He handles the effects very well and the rendering of the wild oceans is wonderfully realistic.
Effects house MPC do great work here - check them out - LINK
The casting deserves special mention because apart from Pine and Bana (in a pretty small role) the actors are all lesser known names with better known faces.
We have Josh Stewart ("The Dark Knight Rises" and the voice of CASE from "Interstellar"), Graham McTavish ("Rambo", "The Hobbit" trilogy, videogames Uncharted 2 and 3), Rachel Brosnahan ("Beautiful Creatures", Netflix's "House of Cards"), Abraham Benrubi (tv show "ER", "Open Range") and Kyle Gallner ("American Sniper", "Beautiful Creatures")
Every performance is excellent and after only fifteen or twenty minutes I was really enjoying this movie.
 |
| The superb effects by MPC augment the story well |
This is a hard movie to sell on audiences who have already seen movies with less restraint such as "Twister", "The Perfect Storm", "Into the Storm", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "San Andreas" but "The Finest Hours" is cut from entirely different cloth and is better than all of them.
Yes, there is a little bit of "Titanic" about it but this comparison disappears very quickly when you see the final film.
(Not to disparage Cameron's blockbuster which I have always liked - link)
There is a lot of subtlety to the performances and the great restraint that is shown in not going over the top with the events portrayed means that when the film wants to tug at your emotions it does so in a far more effective way.
The three central figures played by Pine, Affleck and Grainger are so well written and portrayed that the film earns these emotional moments via character.
It's a rare thing in this genre.
There are no Dwayne Johnson 'Now we rebuild' speeches under billowing American flags or 'Don't you say your goodbyes' lines - it isn't that sort of movie.
Even the 3D is restrained and whilst I normally advocate the techniques usage in the chuck-stuff-in-the-audience's-faces style a more subtle use is the better choice for this film.
In the scenes on the Pendleton the 3D is used to show the size of the ship and the horrific damage.
Waves are given depth in the rescue boat shots and it really does add much to heighten the drama.
I found this movie touching and exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Equal parts romance, drama and adventure it works without the need for flashy effects and cheesy lines yet manages to be emotionally engaging and thrilling exactly when it needs to be.
It's a finely made, wonderfully acted movie that never outstays its welcome at a lean hour and fifty minutes with credits.
This one is far better than the poster and trailers would have you believe and deserves to be seen for many reasons but specially so that studios understand that there is room for smarter takes on this type of subject matter.
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