Movie Review: The Finest Hours

The Finest Hours movie poster

A friend who saw The Finest Hours before I did described it to me as a poor-man's The Perfect Storm; however, I felt that it was more like Titanic. There are a few different stories going on that all converge near the end, and some of the storm scenes were very intense to watch.

Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) is a member of the Coast Guard, and has started dating Miriam (Holliday Grainger). Miriam is a go-getter and asks Bernie if he would like to marry her; technically, he has to ask his commanding officer, Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana), first. Before he gets to do that, however, the Coast Guard receives word that there's an oil tanker in need of help off the coast of Nantucket, and because another oil tanker was having the same problem, and a team was already sent out, Webber is on deck (no pun intended) to assemble a crew to help rescue the men on this oil tanker.

This movie had a very recognizable cast, although some of the actors I haven't seen in a while - Eric Bana (whom I loved in The Time Traveler's Wife) played the commanding Coast Guard officer in charge of Webber. Chris Pine was good here as well, although his character was much more taciturn than other characters I've seen him previously play. You might also recognize John Magaro, from the recent The Big Short and other films, and you will of course recognize Casey Affleck (Ben's younger brother, by three years). Ben Foster also has a supporting role, as another Coast Guard man, as well as John Ortiz (Silver Linings Playbook).

Yes, see this movie, but don't see it in 3D - the 3D didn't really add much except a little bit of depth, though there was one or two scenes total that it did enhance; for just those one or two, though, it's not worth the money. I found the true story behind The Finest Hours to be interesting, and make sure to stay through the credits for pictures of the actors next to the real people that they portrayed. The film was also based on the book of the same name (The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue), and it would be interested to see what has changed from the book version, if anything.

The Finest Hours is in theaters today, January 29th, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 117 minutes. 3.5 stars out of 5.

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