Finest Hours Depicts True Stories of Two Sunken Ships

By Sami Schmid, Newspaper Staffer
Published: February 18, 2016

Cold water is splashing everywhere. It’s dark and you can hardly see. You are in the middle of the ocean in a small boat being knocked around by strong waves. It’s freezing and you’re not sure that you’ll make it back alive. This was the situation faced by the coast guardsmen of the Chatham station.

Set in 1952, “The Finest Hours” depicts the extraordinary true story of the rescue of two sunken oil tankers.

Coast Guardsman, Bernie Webber is ordered to pick a crew and take a small rescue boat out to sea during a terrible storm and save the seamen of the SS Pendleton after it was cut in half. However, his rescue boat has a capacity of twelve, and when he and his crew arrive at the wreckage they find 32 survivors. The movie follows their attempts and conflicts as Bernie works to retrieve and safely return all 32 of the surviving crewmen.

After watching the trailer, the movie was everything I had hoped and imagined, almost too much so. The trailer sums up most of the movie, so there’s not a lot to learn plot-wise. However, it is still great to watch. If not for the exciting, fast-paced vibe, then for the plot itself. The fact that a giant 500-foot ship could be split in half due to a relatively small crack it had sustained prior and some vicious waves seems to be a bit far-fetched. To further make the story seem like it would be a fabricated one, the rescue boat that was originally only supposed to fit about 12 people managed to take 32 men back to shore.

While the movie itself did not much surprise me I would never guess this was a Disney movie and I was impressed by how closely they kept to the facts of the story. The only fabricated events were the ones involving characters Bernie and Miriam’s romance. Bernie and Miriam were actually together, but they were already married when he set out on the rescue mission. She also had the flu during the storm, so she was at home the whole time, not out and about.

While the movie did spend a lot of time focusing on the ocean and the events that transpired there they did a good job of keeping it entertaining and with just enough out of water scenes to balance the film. The two main characters, Bernie Webber, played by Chris Pine, and Ray Sybert, played by Casey Affleck of “Gone Baby Gone” fame, were both the underdogs of their profession in the film, yet in the moment that disaster strikes they were the ones to step up to the plate and save everyone’s lives. I loved the way the filmmakers gave the movie symmetry with the characters and the ongoing plot lines involving the SS Pendleton and the Chatham Coast Guard.

What I liked most about the movie was that even though you know what is going to happen, even though you know there are survivors, they still managed to not only make it worth watching, but also kept you on the edge of your seat while doing so. The fact that it is based on a true story doesn’t make you any less worried that the whole crew could perish at any moment.

This is a classic rescue story perfect for anyone into disaster movies. The effects are great and it’s a plus to watch it in 3D. Due to its setting in the 1950s, anyone not into vintage movies might have a hard time with this film. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and I would recommend others to watch it.