A coast guard failed a rescue mission and was given a chance to redeem himself.
I mean, how dangerous could it be?
We were introduced to Bernie Webber (Star Trek’s Chris Pine), a shy, socially awkward young man who always followed the rules. He was constantly reminded of his failure to save people in the sea by everyone around him, and due to this, shied away even more from the world.
Then he met Miriam (Holliday Grainger), the girl he believed to be the one. Or something along that line. She was courageous, today’s definition of a feminist, and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
During the stormy season, Miriam asked Bernie to marry her. After rejecting and hurting her, Bernie chased after Miriam and finally agreed to marrying her.
She’d already chosen the date as well: April 16.
At the same time, a T2 tank broke into halves. And the halves parted. The crew panicked, and the radio room, which was located in the other half, floated away.
Knowing that the Pendleton T2 broke into halves, nearest offices sent rescue missions. However, there were two tank ships that broke into halves.
Thus, when the whole focus went towards one, the other one was abandoned.
And the abandoned one had to survive.
That was when their ship guy Sybert, the guy who was “married” to the ship, had to step up to save his men.
And I was praying that they’d make it, because they got ONCE’s Baelfire and the Flash’s Wally West in their crew. Don’t judge me for my love for TV shows’ actors.
So the crew started drilling to save themselves for few more hours. They couldn’t take small boats in such storm, and they had to stay in their sinking, half tank.
On the other hand, Bernie, a good follower that he was, was preparing to ask for permission to marry Miriam. He didn’t know that it was a courtesy, not a regulation, but insisted on asking Chief Cluff (Eric Bana) if he could marry Miriam.
Cluff is the kind of guy I’d have punched in the face if I were around, folks. This isn’t the kind of guy you want to work for.
So Cluff, not really knowing what to do, sent Bernie off on a small boat CG 36500 to try to rescue the abandoned half T2 tank. And Bernie took the grumpy Richie, the ever optimist Fitz, and Ervin with him. Then off they sailed.
The sea was dangerous. The storm was murderous.
And how could these people be at ease when the one stirring the boat was the shy, slow, and condemned Bernie?
And what about those survivors on the broken half of Pendleton T2 Tank?
I didn’t read anything before walking into the theater. I saw glimpse of the Imdb score, but that was the most I had seen of the Finest Hours before walking in.
And I had a wonderful time.
This movie was jaw dropping, heart stopping, freezing cold, stormy experience. I felt the cold air, I felt the crashes, and I felt drowned.
It was one hell of a ride.
And the whole time, we were given no choice but to hold onto Bernie Webber.
There were some parts that bugged me. For instance, Miriam. I couldn’t tell if she had just been a strong feminist or a bossy girlfriend. I couldn’t feel connected to her. Her presence didn’t do much, except as the closest thing to Bernie of a home. Holliday Grainger was beautiful in this movie, but that was all that she’d been the entire time: a pretty home.
The other actors did their best, I believe, but to me not enough. Eric Bana had the big guy figure, however lacked presence. Keiynan Lonsdale, whom I’d crushed on since Insurgent, was just there to look gorgeous. I wasn’t disappointed; I knew there wasn’t much to expect from his character.
Casey Affleck had presence in the movie. And that was all I could say about him. I do love him though. What a good actor. I believed it when his character was portrayed as the one “married” to the tank.
Chris Pine, however, truly delivered. He did well as timid, ever so obedient Bernie. Then he grew into a courageous sea man and fought to save every survivor.
If I could name anything that stood out in this movie, it had to be Pine’s performance.
This film is about a guy who redeemed himself in the sea, while trying to save a lot of people. It wasn’t just about him. It was about everyone else. We didn’t get much of character development, since there was no flashback or anything – but for some reason, we were there with Bernie.
I give this movie a 7/10. It was good enough to make me crunch and stare at the screen hopelessly, waiting for some insane miracle to happen in the story. It was good enough that I held not going to the bathroom until the roll credits started.
It’d be good enough for you too. Oh, and well done, Disney.
OpinionHuis 