Disney’s ‘The Finest Hours’ is a so-so 117 minutes
Chris Pine and his ragtag Coast Guard crew overcome horrendous luck, freezing temperatures, hurricane-force winds and waves so powerful they've broken two 500-foot oil tankers in half.
The one obstacle they probably won't be able to surmount? Viewer apathy.
There's simply very little reason to get excited about — let alone purchase a ticket for — the earnestly square, real-life rescue drama "The Finest Hours."
Haunted by his failure to save the crew of a fishing vessel a year ago, Bernie Webber is so unsure of himself, he's very concerned that his blind date, Miriam (Holliday Grainger), won't like him because he wore the wrong shirt — despite the fact that he looks exactly like Chris Pine.
Not surprisingly, she does. So much so that she asks him to marry her soon after. Miriam's spunky that way.
On Feb. 18, 1952, the day after their surprise engagement, a massive nor'easter exploits a welded patch in the engine room of the SS Pendleton and splits the Boston-bound tanker in two. With the ship's officers lost at sea, and no way of communicating with the outside world, First Assistant Engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck), who knows the Pendleton better than anyone, reluctantly assumes command.
All the Coast Guard's resources in Boston and Nantucket, as well as the top crew from Bernie's station in Chatham, Massachusetts, are tied up trying to rescue the men of a different tanker that's also broken apart. So it's up to Bernie and three volunteers — seamen Richard Livesey (Ben Foster) and Ervin Maske (John Magaro) and third-class engineer Andy Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner) — to do what he couldn't do a year ago and bring that crew home.
It's a ridiculous task involving near-certain death. Grizzled local fishermen beg Bernie not to go. But, as he notes of the Coast Guard, "they say you gotta go out. You don't gotta come back in." Against all logic, Bernie and his crew set out in a 36-foot motorized, wooden lifeboat designed to hold eight additional passengers to save the 30-something survivors of the Pendleton.
Because it's a Disney movie, you have a pretty good idea how "The Finest Hours" is going to end. Look closely at one version of the movie's poster, and you'll know exactly how it ends.
Though the movie lacks any real suspense, director Craig Gillespie ("Million Dollar Arm") oversees some solid special effects. With its first maritime shot, "The Finest Hours" is already more visually impressive than the entirety of Ron Howard's recent "In the Heart of the Sea."
Pine, though, is miscast as Bernie. The "Star Trek" actor does several things well, but timidity isn't one of them. Hiring Pine and not allowing him to swagger is the cinematic equivalent of hitching American Pharoah to a plow.
This allows Affleck, who deserves more high-profile opportunities, to dominate the movie in ways a co-star shouldn't. Bernie and Ray are both quiet, reserved men, thrust into leadership positions neither seems comfortable with. Affleck is just much better at conveying that.
The script — by "The Fighter" writers Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson — carves out plenty of time for Miriam to be plucky in the face of adversity. And it's a feel-good piece of family-friendly heroism. But, wow, is it repetitive.
Seemingly everyone in Chatham is there to remind Bernie of his shortcomings. For all the ham-fistedness, he might as well have a parrot on his shoulder, squawking, "You couldn't do it last time; you couldn't do it last time."
That previous rescue failed because Bernie couldn't navigate his way clear of the Chatham Bar to even make it out to sea. This, of course, leads to an excruciating volume of reminders. "You gotta clear that bar." "How are you gonna clear that bar?" "You're never gonna clear that bar."
A DJ new to the EDM scene doesn't hit the same notes that often.
Spoiler alert: Bernie eventually clears that bar.
As an engaging film, though, "The Finest Hours" never really does.
— Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @life_onthecouch
