Release: January 29th, 2016Genre: Drama
Starring: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz
When you go to a chain restaurant, you don't expect much. Sure, the food might be cheap, passably tasty, and presented well, but at the end of the day it's not quite as filling or memorable as finding a local, hole-in-the-wall burger joint where they hand-form each patty and cook it to order. Because at chain restaurants, everything is pre-packaged, pre-portioned, and frozen for quick and easy serving.
Movies are like restaurants, in that regard. A lot of movies that come out, particularly from Disney, are chain restaurants. Formulaic, mass-produced, and not particularly unique; but you couldn't quite say it's bad either.
Of course, some movies fall in the middle. Let's say the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are Texas Road House: still a chain, but everything there is done a little more personally, a little more carefully, and it ends up being a memorable meal.
While The FInest Hours, Disney's latest mass-produced, "chain" film, isn't a Subway or Applebees, its not quite a Texas Road House either. There's nothing particularly bad about it, but it's also not the best movie I've ever seen.
The film tells the true story of Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) a crewman stationed at the Chatham Coast Guard station in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Days before a massive winter storm, he and his girlfriend Miriam (Holliday Grainger) plan to get married. First though, as per coast guard regulation in 1952, he believes he must ask the permission of his commanding officer Cluff (Eric Bana) But when the storm hits, a tanker 10 miles off of the coast is split in half. Webber takes four of his fellow crew members and makes a daring and dangerous rescue attempt.
The first thing I noticed about the actors not on the sinking ship, Pine, Affleck, and company, are all very...quiet, for lack of better word. For Pine, it's his character: he's quiet, timid, but brave and respectful. Still, I felt a lot more energy could have come from the actors, it seemed as if they were all about to fall asleep, and it made my eyes a little heavy as well. The first half of the movie is held up purely by the exciting scenes set on the ship, and I think more time could have been dedicated to those to keep the momentum going a bit.
Also on the subject of acting, the performers attempt a Boston accent, with mixed success. As someone who lives in New England who's very familiar with the dialect, I could tell they were just putting on an accent, because it sounded more like a bad Brooklyn accent, which is a mistake a lot of people make when attempting to replicate it.
Like I said, the film follows a formula, successfully I might add, but it's a formula nonetheless. You always know where the film is going based on the previous scenes. Not bad, but it makes for little suspense. The only parts I felt were truly nail-biting were the scenes in the beginning on the ship, and the climactic rescue scene when Webber and his crew are attempting to get all the survivors on board of his rescue vehicle.
There was a lot of good camerawork throughout the film. The standout shot being a long, unbroken take in which the camera winds through the entirety of the ship as the crew relays a command from the top of the vessel to the bottom. This must have been a fun scene to see in 3D, however, I don't think anything else warranted a 3D viewing, as the CGI was very hit-or-miss.
Some VFX shots, especially involving the water, looks great. However, a lot of green-screen shots were very noticeable, something pretty unacceptable for a big-budget Disney movie in 2016.
One thing I think the movie lacked was a bit of humor. Disney movies always include this in their films, and it was surprising not to see it. I can't remember even one attempt at it in the film, which was a bit disappointing.
Overall, if you're looking for a family-friendly disaster drama with a bit of inspiration, look no further. If you like a bit of meat on your ribs, something to savor and think about, you're better off skipping this one.
Verdict: 3/5
Very thoughtful review; love the chain restaurant analogy. Ron C
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