• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Movie Review – The Finest Hours (2016)

February 18, 2016 by Scott J. Davis

The Finest Hours, 2016.

Directed by Craig Gillespie.
Starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Holliday Grainger, Ben Foster, Kyle Gallner, John Magaro and Eric Bana.

SYNOPSIS:

The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.

Disney are taking over the world and will soon own you, me and the dog. Now the biggest studio in Hollywood (weren’t they always?), they have embarked on a global mission to bring us the best cinematic entertainment possible with trips to a galaxy far, far away and the seemingly endless jaunts with our favourite team that avenges, not to mention the one-too-many nautical trips with Jack Sparrow.

But not to be down-hearted by the latter’s diminishing returns, the latest big-screen film from the House of Mouse is of a similar theme, this time retelling the true story of a daring rescue mission in 1952. Said mission took place in Cape Cod, led by the charming Bernie Webber (Pine), who despite his somewhat nervous demeanour, sets off with three colleagues (Foster, Magaro and Gallner) to attempt a rescue of the crew of an oil-tanker that is close to disaster, despite the best efforts by its ever-decreasing crew.

The canvas director Craig Gillespie paints on is substantial, particularly when the films jumps aboard the tiny coastguard boat designated to attempt such an audacious rescue. As the rain splashes and crashes around our noble sails-men, you want to feel as though you are right there alongside them as they enter the tortuous waters of the Atlantic. But such is the detrimental effect that the colossal amounts of CGI have on the heroics of the story that you only feel a fleeting sense of heroism, lost all at sea under the weight of the emphasis put on the CGI wizards.

Sure, the audacious rescue attempt when it arrives does have some tense and fraught moments but everything leading feels like such a damp squib that you end up caring not one jot if the nautical adventures end with a rescue or otherwise.

The cast perform admirably throughout though and are the reason the film keeps it’s head above water: Pine, who has charmed his way through many roles in recent years, is on good form as lead coastguard Webber, while the always impressive Ben Foster continues his rise towards fully – fledged leading man. British actress Holliday Grainger gives as good as she gets throughout despite the overly saccharine nature of her romance with Pine. It’s Casey Affleck who shines the brightest here though, superb as the doomed oil – liner engine runner Rya Sybert. With this and the same-day release (in the UK that is) Triple 9, Affleck proves one more his place amongst the best actors of his generation.

While The Finest Hours has spectacle aplenty, the film gets overly soaked with some poorly conceived CGI that never allows true immersion. But it does have a certain bullish charm mixed with some tender moments off-shore that keeps the engine running, with the cast all performing well. A decent if unspectacular boat ride.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Scott J. Davis is Senior Staff Writer at Flickering Myth, and co-host and editor of The Flickering Myth Review Podcast. Follow him on Twitter.

. url=”.” . width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]

Filed Under: Movies, Reviews, Scott Davis Tagged With: Ben Foster, Casey Affleck, Chris Pine, Craig Gillespie, Eric Bana, Holliday Grainger, John Magaro, Kyle Gallner, The Finest Hours

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

8 Great Recent Films You Really Need To See

The 10 Best Villains in Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies

The Best 90s and 00s Horror Movies That Rotten Tomatoes Hate!

The Bonkers Comedies of Andrew McCarthy

10 Great Action Movies from 1995

10 Great Forgotten Gems of the 1980s

What Will Amazon Do with James Bond?

The Craziest Takashi Miike Movies

Great 2010s Thrillers You May Have Missed

Great Tarantino-esque Movies You Need To See

Top Stories:

Peacock’s true crime drama Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy gets a trailer

Movie Review – Superman (2025)

Great Tarantino-esque Movies You Need To See

Great 2010s Thrillers You May Have Missed

New trailer for Netflix mystery-thriller series Untamed starring Eric Bana

7 Underrated World War II Romance Movies

Movie Review – Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (2025)

Movie Review – Sovereign (2025)

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

7 Underrated Ridley Scott Movies

The Essential Cannon Films Scores

Ranking Video Game Movie Sequels From Worst to Best

The Most Obscure & Shocking John Waters Movies

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket