'The Finest Hours' Review (Pine, Affleck) (1 Viewer)

[Yavin]

Disney's The Finest Hours (directed by Million Dollar Arm helmer Craig Gillespie and starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana and Holiday Grainger) is based on the book of the same name, which tells the true story of a daring 1952 Coast Guard rescue mission off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Story-wise, the film is serviceable, but it's really the experience of feeling like you're there on the stormy seas of the Atlantic that makes The Finest Hours worthwhile.


Click here for the full review.


Film Rating: 3.5 out of 5

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I looked at the blurb on Rotten Tomatoes that indicated most critics thought the film was "too traditional" and needed to be more "adventurous". I'll be damned if I know what that means. Did it need a jive-talking robot or zombies?

No, I can't claim that "Finest Hours" does anything one would call "new", but how many movies do? I think it provides a perfectly solid action-drama with a good emotional punch. It invests us in the characters enough that we care about their fate and gives us a nice dollop of harrowing action along the way.

Everything about the movie represented a professional production, one that served the tale's needs well. One review complained that we spent too much time away from the boat - I guess that critic felt the glimpses of Miriam took away from the drama.

I felt the opposite - I thought the "on-shore" scenes let us invest in the characters more, since we saw what they meant to people. Also, we needed some respite from the tension - 2 hours on-board the boats would've gotten tiresome.

All the actors were perfectly solid in their parts. Actually, I was impressed by Chris Pine, as I thought he pulled off Bernie's modesty well. I'm used to him as cocky characters - primarily Captain Kirk - so I appreciate the understated determination he brought to the role.

I won't claim that I loved it, but I enjoyed it, and I even got a little misty-eyed at the end - that's rare for a cold-hearted bastard like me.

There's nothing wrong with "traditional" movies, and I think this one gives its genre enough punch to be enjoyable...

 

[Robert Crawford]

Wow, I got to see this film now.

 

[Tino]

Just came back from seeing The Finest Hours and really enjoyed it. A good old fashioned adventure yarn with romance and adventure. And a riveting true story to boot.

️️️

 

[Malcolm R]

It looks similar to The Perfect Storm, but with bigger boats.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Just came back from seeing The Finest Hours and really enjoyed it. A good old fashioned adventure yarn with romance and adventure. And a riveting true story to boot.

️️️

Did you see it in 3-D?

 

[Tino]

Did you see it in 3-D?

Nope. 2D. It was the most convenient time otherwise I would have seen it in IMAX 3D. Still visually impressive even on 2D.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

It looks similar to The Perfect Storm, but with bigger boats.

There are definite similarities, partly due to the locales in which they take place.

"TFH" has a happier ending, though!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Nope. 2D. It was the most convenient time otherwise I would have seen it in IMAX 3D. Still visually impressive even on 2D.

The local paper's review thought 3D was a waste because it's such a dark film - so much of the film takes place on rough waters that the 3D didn't have much room to impress.

I saw it 2D as well but that rationale seems logical, especially since 3D tends to make movies darker anyway.

If there's a 3D Blu-ray, I'll probably watch that, but I don't think 3D will make the movie better.

I actually didn't even know there WAS a 3D version until after I saw the movie!

 

[sleroi]

The story has me intrigued, and Pine looks to give a great performance, but its those dark visuals that are bothering me. The trailers look like it was shot on a soundstage and green screen, very fake looking. I might juat have to give it a try this weekend.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thanks guys about the 3-D comments, I'll try to see this in 2-D over the next day or so.

 

[Tino]

The story has me intrigued, and Pine looks to give a great performance, but its those dark visuals that are bothering me. The trailers look like it was shot on a soundstage and green screen, very fake looking. I might juat have to give it a try this weekend.

I didn't think it looked fake at all and the visual effects were very.....effective.

 

[Tino]

There are definite similarities, partly due to the locales in which they take place.

"TFH" has a happier ending, though!

Spoiler Alert!!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I felt the opposite - I thought the "on-shore" scenes let us invest in the characters more, since we saw what they meant to people. Also, we needed some respite from the tension - 2 hours on-board the boats would've gotten tiresome.

All the actors were perfectly solid in their parts. Actually, I was impressed by Chris Pine, as I thought he pulled off Bernie's modesty well. I'm used to him as cocky characters - primarily Captain Kirk - so I appreciate the understated determination he brought to the role.

I won't claim that I loved it, but I enjoyed it, and I even got a little misty-eyed at the end - that's rare for a cold-hearted bastard like me.

There's nothing wrong with "traditional" movies, and I think this one gives its genre enough punch to be enjoyable...

I did enjoy this film very much. I, too got misty-eyed towards the end and that's rare for me as I'm a cold-hearted bastard too. I thought all of the actors were good, especially, Pine and Affleck.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I did enjoy this film very much. I, too got misty-eyed towards the end and that's rare for me as I'm a cold-hearted bastard too. I thought all of the actors were good, especially, Pine and Affleck.

See? I don't hate every movie I watch!