The Finest Hours

Overview

Every few months or so, Hollywood throws a few of its stars into the sea. Whether they're forced to conquer towering swells or left to float and flounder until rescue, the end result is usually the same: men battle nature, treading the very fine line between sinking and surviving in the process. Favouring disaster over drifting, The Finest Hours relates the details of the SS Pendleton. To date, the US Coast Guard's mission to bring the ship's crew to shore remains the greatest small boat rescue operation in history.

Like many such stories, the true tale behind the film stems from a combination of bad weather, bravery and luck both good and bad. On the day Massachusetts crewman Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) intends to ask his superior officer (Eric Bana) for permission to marry his sweetheart (Holliday Grainger), a storm strikes. Two tankers are ripped in half by the hurricane-force winds and giant waves. With most of their colleagues tending to one vessel, it's left to Bernie and a tiny band of offsiders (including Ben Foster and Kyle Gallner) to jump onto a modest 36-foot boat to try and aid the other.

Sadly, daring and noble deeds don't always inspire films filled with the same spirit, even when they're made with the best of intentions. The Finest Hours is set in 1952 and looks the period part. Unfortunately, the '50s are currently plastered across the screen in everything from Brooklyn to Hail, Caesar!, and frankly those offerings provide richer old-school depictions of the decade, and not just in a visual sense. Here, director Craig Gillespie keeps his tone as flat as his images are dark. Given that he also helmed the tender Lars and the Real Girl as well as the remake of Fright Night, his lack of energy is both surprising and disappointing.

What The Finest Hours lacks in liveliness, it attempts to make up for in CGI-enhanced thrills. But while the splashing and crashing spectacle of the second half provide decent entertainment, they can't quite gel with the more intimate, character-based moments. It's never a good sign when the killer storm seems more subtle than the bulk of the people caught in its midst.

Thank goodness for the sections devoted to the men on the struggling ship, as anchored by Casey Affleck. In his second impressive outing in as many movies following his turn in Triple 9, he endeavours to save his fellow sailors and keep The Finest Hours coasting along. The on-board drama he's immersed in might cycle through as many cliches as the rest of the film and the wet-and-wild genre in general, but it's the only part of the action presented with any tension or urgency.