There’s something charming and reassuring about the old-fashioned quality of Craig Gillespie’s The Finest Hours, a throwback to movies of yesterday. It has no problem putting not one but two solid, erstwhile heroes front and center, drawing on untold reserves of courage to conquer seemingly insurmountable problems. There’s also a strong, faithful and pure woman who stands by to see if they’ll succeed, a best buddy that’s by our heroes’ side no matter what, and a grizzled veteran or two that can be relied on when the chips are down. That these characters are brought to life with sincerity by its game cast and photographed in a way that screams “Drama!” by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe only adds to the obvious intent of the filmmaker.
There’s no question that the incidents around which Hours is built are compelling as it recounts what’s referred to as “the most heroic small boat rescue in the history of the U.S. Coast.” Screenwriters Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson need not exaggerate the facts in order to raise the dramatic stakes, as what the four sailors who set out to rescue the 32 survivors of the listing oil tanker Pendleton did is the stuff of legends.
Gary Cooper wasn’t available, so Star Trek’s Chris Pine is given the role of Bernie Webber and accords himself quite well as the straight-as-an-arrow sailor whose adherence to doing the right thing no matter what goes hand-in-hand with acts of great heroism. He and Richard Livesly (Ben Foster), Andy Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner) and Ervin Maske (John Magaro) set out on February 18, 1952 in an effort to save the remaining crew of the Pendleton, which had been spilt in two. The chief engineer of the ship, Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck, channeling Spencer Tracy), is the only one keeping his fellow 31 crewmates afloat, having convinced them to jerry-rig a crude rudder so that they might steer what’s left of the vessel to a distant shoal where they hope to rest until someone hopefully comes to their aid.
Gillespie does a fine job juggling the dual storylines, not only giving each equal time on screen but also generating dramatic heft in both. As the plight of the Pendleton goes from bad to much, much worse, the film takes its time to spell out its many problems, the actions that will be taken to solve them and how dire things become when it all goes south.
Affleck is surprisingly good here, providing a solid center to the turmoil that’s swirling about him, creating with quiet conviction a man capable of keeping his head when all goes awry, commanding respect through his actions and level-headedness. Pine works in a similar vein and succeeds by scaling back, abandoning the brashness that suffuses most of his screen work. It’s a wise strategy as he makes Webber vulnerable, easy to relate to and wholly heroic in the way he overcomes his doubts and fears. As his worried fiancée, Holliday Grainger does her best to create a distinct character but unfortunately she’s given little to do but worry and fret.
The special effects, combining digital work with full-scale sets and in-studio tank work, are seamlessly integrated with location shooting done on the Massachusetts coast to create a sense of place that’s treacherous at sea but welcoming ashore. A great deal of detail has gone into accomplishing this as well as in the telling of this story. Though it flounders a bit towards the end and can’t completely overcome its predictable nature, The Finest Hours is a solid, noble effort that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do – honoring the heroism of Sybert, Webber and his crew, all of whom didn’t think twice about putting themselves before others.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
