About 19 years ago a movie was released that was based on a true story that happened out at sea. The movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, chronicled the events of a huge passenger liner that eventually sunk after it hit an iceberg. I am ofcourse talking about Titanic, a movie that went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters to date, and received a total of 11 Oscars. It has also been the only movie that I have seen 9 times in the cinema. Movies about disasters and men versus the sea have always fascinated me. Hollywood keeps making them, and I guess that is because a lot of people love watching them. This year we had another one based on a true story, called the Finest Hours. Is it any good? Well let’s find out shall we?

It is 1952. The young coast guard officer Bernie Webber, played by Chris Pine, is about to meet the girl of his dreams, Miriam. Pretty unsure of himself it turns out he was worried for nothing, as Miriam definitely is interested in him as well. Months later, the two make plans to get married. As Bernie always keeps following the rules, he heads of to his commanding officer at coastguard headquarters, to ask permission to get married, as per regulations. Meanwhile out at sea, a great storm is brewing and the oil tanker Pendleton finds itself right in the middle of it. Then disaster hits, and the great ship breaks in two. The stern keeps floating, and on it are roughly thirty men that find themselves trapped on the sinking ship. Bernie receives orders to head out to sea to pull of a daring rescue attempt. With the storm getting worse by the minute, it seems that the rescue is doomed to become a suicide mission…..

The Finest Hours is what I would like to call a good old fashioned disaster movie. Sure, it doesn’t tread any new grounds, but it does deliver an entertaining movie experience. The acting in this movie is very solid. I really liked Chris Pine’s performance. His character is a bit of a shy and somewhat unassuming person, and that is what I loved about it. It’s cool that someone like that can pull off a rescue such as this. Also noteworthy are Casey Affleck who is always a very solid actor, and Holliday Grainger who played Miriam. The special effects in this movie are pretty awesome as well, and make you feel as if you are right down in the middle of the storm. One could argue that there are some moments in the movie, where the tension drops a bit, and there are definitely some typical disaster movie cliches in here. But honestly , overall I really enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it to people who like movies such as The Perfect Storm and Titanic.

I give the Finest Hours a 8 out of 10 score.