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The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.
Craig Gillespie’s “The Finest Hours,” confirmed my worst fears within the first 15 minutes. It’s just another cookie cutter, needlessly sappy, underwhelming and inconsistent production of a true story that deserves more than the clunky dialogue and stilted performances it gets. Poor writing seems to be the main culprit in this case. A film can only hide behind star power and glossy productions for so long before it’s ratted out by a poorly formulated screenplay, riddled with an abundance of dramatic pauses and an awkwardly situated love plot.
“The Finest Hours,” is based on the astonishing true story of the Pendleton rescue of 1952, after one of the worst storms to hit the East Coast, ripped an oil tanker in half. Facing hypothermic temperatures and colossal waves, four members of the Coast Guard set out on a near-suicide mission to rescue the men stranded on the sinking ship. Chris Pine as Bernie Webber is our hero, a “good” man who is haunted by a previously failed rescue mission. He is our runt, our underdog, who does right by his job even if there is a hesitancy lingering in the weight of his actions. Holliday Grainger is Bernie’s bold fiancé Miriam, a woman not afraid to ask for what she wants, and repeatedly crosses the invisible lines of a male oriented public sphere.
Bernie and Miriam’s love story is introduced early into the film, becoming a flimsy plot that does more damage to the film instead of anchoring it. They chanced a blind date after speaking on the phone a few times, and a year later Miriam, as brazen as she is, asks him to marry her. After an awkward exchange and a hesitant huff and puff “yes,” a storm has started brewing and Bernie is off with his crew on the rescue mission. The chemistry between Pine and Grainger is stale. The emotional investment is lacking for this love story to be carried through as a main player in the film. Developing the background on the previously failed rescue mission, whispered about here and there between the men, may have served the film better.
Situations on the sinking tanker are no better, as the performances are all forgettable, save the few cringe worthy moments of bad singing, dramatic pauses, and panicked tension leading to a few bits of overacting. There is also a sadly laughable cliché movie life lesson everyone will do well to remember: Never believe or follow the man that says, “Follow me, it will be fine,” because it will most likely lead to certain death.
“The Finest Hours” has a great cast of actors: Casey Affleck, Eric Bana, Ben Foster, and of course Chris Pine, and Holliday Grainger, all of whom have proved their acting abilities in previous projects. It’s a shame they could not prove the same in this one. What should have been a powerful, daunting, heroic epic is nothing more than a laughable disappointment marring the history of the true events. “The Finest Hours” should have been a cinematic monument but the foundation crumbled early, bringing everyone down with it.
In theaters January 29th
