The Finest Hours

This review may contain spoilers!

A really epic blockbuster rescue operation. I would give The Finest Hours an 8/10.

The story for this film is phenomenal when it works upon the rescue of the crew aboard the ship as well as how the crew survived for as long as they did, it's a pretty heightened tale that is riddled with suspense. Because this plot consists of most of the story and as such has you hooked throughout the pacing for this film is actually quite good. The special effects of the waves, ocean backdrops and destroyed boat look great, it creates a very chaotic feel to the film. The cinematography of this film suffers a little when it comes to dialogue sequences but for the most part there are some impressive shots, my personal favourite was the scene in which they passed the bar for the first time. The score for this film is pure blockbuster grand stand, it's a film that is loud and is made to sound so; I also have to pay special note to the great soundtrack with songs from the 40s and 50s.

Casey Affleck, who played Ray Sybert, really lead the story on the Pendleton well; Affleck's reserved and quiet leader was one of the most interesting characters of the film. Ben Foster, who played Richard Livesey, was a character I really enjoyed seeing evolve throughout the film; he went from being quite against Pine to having a lot of respect for him by the end of the feature which I thought was great. Eric Bana, who played Daniel Cluff, gave a great performance as a commanding officer who wasn't very knowledgeable in his role; despite being very commanding and having a strong presence it was interesting seeing the nervous and uncertain undertones of this role. Holliday Grainger, who played Miriam Webber, was a brilliant leading actress in this film; I liked seeing her fight for Bernie's safety and knowingly break what was seen as the normal thing for wives of the Coast Guard to do. Graham McTavish, who played Frank Fauteux, has a really commanding presence in this film; McTavish acts as a powerful voice when Affleck's role is seen as weak at first. Michael Raymond-James, who played D.A. Brown, is a character who acts as a great antagonist to Affleck; I enjoyed him creating a realistic sense of conflict aboard the Pendleton. Abraham Benrubi, who played George 'Tiny' Myers, was one of the easiest characters to like in the film; his death really hit hard and gave the film a darker tone. Rachel Brosnahan, who played Bea Hansen, was quite a fierce and strong role in this film; the pain that she carried beneath the surface was really well portrayed by Brosnahan. Benjamin Koldyke, who played Donald Bangs, was another Coast Guard character who had a strong leading presence; I enjoyed his nonchalant respect for Pine's role. Alexander Cook, who played John Stello, was a very likeable gruff character; I liked that he watched out and had a good relationship with Pine in this film.

However the best performance came from Chris Pine, who played Bernie Webber. I enjoyed Pine playing a character who was soft spoken and not the most confident, this was especially interesting when seeing a romance story where the man was portrayed as not being the stronger of the two partners (certainly a trope breaker for Disney). I loved how determined Pine presented his role, how he was willing to test the limits and do the impossible to achieve his goal. At the end of the film he looks absolutely exhausted and I think it's great that we can see Pine deliver this level of physicality in his character.

This film has a significant upon the romance between Grainger and Pine, and while I enjoy their performances, I think this subplot was very forced and poorly written. Furthermore there wasn't really any focus upon characterisation and character development in this film, most of the roles got basic introductions and were never really explored.

John Ortiz, who played Wallace Quirey, has the been the weakest player in two great films this week; his performance just didn't stack up against that of Raymond-James or Affleck. Kyle Gallner, who played Andy Fitzgerald, never really got treated as a character in this film; he was just more of a substitute for Knapp's role. John Magaro, who played Ervin Maske, didn't really have much screen presence in this film; Magaro's character was hastily cobbled into this film. Beau Knapp, who played Mel Gouthro, presented and awkward and weak performance; he was constantly being overshadowed by either Pine or Grainger. Josh Stewart, who played Tchuda Southerland, had absolutely no screen presence; you forgot about him in the scenes he shared with Affleck and McTavish. Keiynan Lonsdale, who played Eldon Hanan, wasn't really treated as a character in this film; Lonsdale's purpose was to make Benrubi's death more impactful. Matthew Maher, who played Carl Nickerson, gave a very wooden performance in this film; Maher had no chemistry with any of the other actors he interacted with.