‘The Finest Hours’: old-school tale of real-life heroism

The based-on-a-real-story movie "The Finest Hours" has been playing for a while but hasn't attracted a whole lot of attention (it's taken in just less than $26 million in its first four weeks of release). But it should perfectly play to certain audiences. The review I wrote for Spokane Public Radio follows:

Time was, popular movies offered a particular kind of escape. Thanks to the Hays Code, it was an escape that typically involved stories of basic human decency, told through plots that – even when the screenwriters layered on the melodrama – usually strived to ring with strong moral purpose.

The 1970s put an end to all that, for better AND for worse.

On occasion, though, a film slips through the dictates of a contemporary market that revels in car explosions, computer-amplified violence, bodies as bare as Vin Diesel’s forehead, jokes that would make Lady Gaga blush and ironic tones thicker than Sofia Vergara’s accent.

One of those films is “The Finest Hours,” director Craig Gillespie’s adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name. And that book, by co-authors Michael J. Touglas and Casey Sherman, captures the essence of Gillespie’s movie in its straightforward subtitle: “The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue.”

The setting of the film follows the real story: The action takes place on Cape Cod’s Chatham Coast Guard Station, during the infamous nor’easter of 1952. And the principal characters, too, resemble those from actual history.

When the oil tanker Pendleton breaks apart in high seas just off the coast, the crew – led by chief engineer Raymond Sybert (played by Casey Affleck) – struggles to keep the aft end afloat. Meanwhile, on land, the Chatham Station commander (played by Eric Bana) orders a four-man team to head out and attempt a rescue.

That attempt falls to Boatswain’s Mate Bernie Webber (played by Chris Pine) and three others (played, respectively, by Ben Foster, John Magaro and Kyle Gallner). Their task includes trying to get past the Chatham Bar, a watery morass described in the book as “a collection of ever-shifting shoals with flood currents carrying ocean waves that can splinter small boats in a matter of seconds.”

While much of the film follows the historical record, including the fact that a second ship also had broken in two, a trio of screenwriters has dramatized a number of plot points for director Gillespie. While the movie’s other main storyline involves the romance between Webber and his love interest Miriam (played by Holliday Grainger), scenes that have Miriam coming into the station and asking the commander to bring Bernie and his crew home were invented.

And neither did Sybert, to quell a near-mutiny, cut a lifeboat loose that was dashed to pieces against the Pendleton’s hull.

More of a concern, though, is the portrayal of Webber himself. Pine, who is far different from his neo-“Star Trek” James T. Kirk character, is actually quite good. But the screenplay never gives a clear picture of Webber, who is portrayed as brave but rule-oriented, intrepid while being timid. Taking the easy route, the movie creates a character arc that depends on his growing into himself – and into a hero.

None of this takes away from the actual story. “The Finest Hours” is a fine way to honor the courage of Webber and his crew. And if you’re into old-school entertainment, the movie just might entertain you as well.