Walt Disney Pictures presents The Finest Hours; a film based on the
novel of the same name which tells the true events of real life heroes. The Finest Hours is directed by Craig
Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Million Dollar Arm) and written by the
team of Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (all 3 last worked together
on the academy nominated film The Fighter).
The novel was written by accomplished novelists Casey Sherman and Michael J.
Tougias.
The Finest Hours tells the almost
unbelievable true story of the most dangerous rescue in U.S. Coast Guard
History. During the winter of 1952, off the coast of Cape Cod, an oil tanker
was wrecked by a storm so powerful the torrential sea ripped said tanker in
half. The first 20-30 minutes of the film is dedicated to introducing our
characters. After the tanker splits the film itself splits into three
consecutive story lines. The first storyline shows the survivors of the crew of
the tanker (The SS Pendleton). In their story we see how a group of people that
never got along in the first place now are thrown into a situation where they
will most likely die. They are forced to band together and utilize what few
resources they have left to both survive the intense cold and prevent the ship
from sinking. Storyline number two is about the small crew of Coast Guard that
went on the rescue mission. Their story is also one of survival as the four of
them man a boat that is less than a quarter of the size of waves that are
crashing on them. Faced many times with the option of turning back, their
courage pushes them forward. The final storyline takes place on land (with the
only characters not drenched) as we see the people of the town deal with the
stress of their loved ones being stuck out on the sea in the deadly storm. All
three stories are packed with real drama and all three share the theme of
finding heroism in the most unlikely places.
Our heroes are Bernie Weber played
by Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness,
Into The Woods), Richard Livesey played
by Ben Foster (The Messenger, Lone Survivor), Ervin Maske played by
John Magaro (Orange is the New Black,
The Big Short) and Andy Fitzgerald
played by Kyle Gallner (American Sniper).
On the tanker is Ray Sybert played by Casey Affleck (Ocean’s Eleven, Gone Baby
Gone), Wallace Quirey played by John Ortiz (Silver Linings Playbook, Steve
Jobs), and Michael Raymond-James. Back on land is Miriam played by Holliday
Grainger (Cinderella), Cluff played
by Eric Bana (Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor), and Gus played by Beau
Knapp (Southpaw).
The film is rated PG-13 for intense
situations only, there are no vulgarities, sexual situation or violence. I had
the opportunity to meet with the director and some of the cast of The Finest Hours and they all said they
just wanted to do justice to these people that never saw themselves as heroes;
they were all just doing their job. So instead of watching a space battle or
comic book superheroes, why not go see a movie about real life heroes who were
just doing their job.
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