DVD movie review

Romance begins Disney’s The Finest Hours (2016, USA). Coast guard Bernie Webster and his girlfriend Miriam are a couple on a double date, one evening, circa 1952. They have known one another for a few months, but marriage may be on the horizon for the couple.

That may be if coast guard Bernie can navigate his way through a storm and rescue an oil tanker off the Cape Cod coast in his small boat with three more crew. Back on the coastline, Miriam’s anxiety is fever pitch over her boyfriend Bernie to survive.

The ship has a major, I mean, major leak.

Bernie is described as a “good man”. He may get his crew through the storm, to save the thirty-two men on the tanker. It has been dubbed the “greatest small boat rescue in history”.

Director Craig Gillespie and his crew convincingly recreates the effects of a storm. You would believe it is real. Not everything about this film is stormy weather, though it is a significant feature of this film.

Ray Sybert tries to convince his men about how best to manage the ship’s leak inside the tanker. Casey Affleck as Ray puts in the film’s stellar performance.

Bernie is quietly confident to‘save the day’ with a crew of only four in a small boat , though the men at the coast guard chide him about his former failure on the job.

The film is populated with strong male characters–Bernie’s supervisor, the men on the coast guard, and the crew of the oil tanker.

The film isn’t for a summer night out at the theater, but it is good, undemanding entertainment for home video. With a blossoming romance, The Finest Hours is a good film for couples who may enjoy something traditional.

However, the middle section of this film sinks the momentum a little, as it more or less drags.

Life at the movies moment:

Bernie’s approach to save the ship’s crew is uncanny. Of course, he knows how to man a boat, but in this weather, his boating is gut instinct and wits.  How he can save them in that weather is a matter of following his nose and using his resources the best he can.

Sometimes, gut instinct is all you have.

Whatever you have, can make something in life work out for good.

This film tells it honestly.

Warnings—brief profanity in perilous situations

Notes: Chris Pine (Bernie Webber), Casey Affleck (Ray Sybert), Eric Bana (Daniel Cluff), Holliday Granger (Miriam), Craig Gillespie (Director)