"You simply cannot stop yourself from holding your breath when Webber and his crew of three fight the storm - a tiny boat against all mighty mother nature"

The Finest Hours is an historical disaster drama directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures, based on The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman and tells the story of the 1952 rescue of the SS Pendleton, after it split apart during a northeaster off the New England coast.

The action starts in a very mild way, with Bernie Webber (Chris Pine), a crewman at the Coast Guard station in Cape Cod, as he is going on a date with a girl he’s been talking to on the phone for some weeks now. Eventually, he and Miriam Pentinen (Holliday Grainger) fall in love and plan to marry on April 16. Bernie, a very always-go-with-the-rules type of guy, explains he must seek permission from the station's commander, Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana), to marry. However, the commander, seen as an outsider by everyone in town, manages to postpone hearing Bernie’s request by sending him to pilot his lifeboat to rescue an oil tanker which had broken in half close to the coast. 

Bernie, for the very first time, is put into a situation where he has to take charge and be responsible for a crew. With him, on what seems like the tiniest boat ever when it comes to a rescue mission, are Andy Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner), Ervin Maske (John Magaro) and Richard Livesey (Ben Foster).

In the meantime, on the broken in half ship, the crew are trying to think of ways to survive until help manages to get to them. Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) is the mastermind behind the prolonged life of the ship. However, he does it at the push of Frank Fauteux (Graham McTavish), who seems to be one of the pillars of that crew. Discussions are held, pros and cons are laid out and the overall atmosphere darkens as they realise that it's possible that nobody will come to save them.

The casting is great as we witness the amazing chemistry between Chris Pine and Holliday Grainger. They balance each other out, which is good. Holliday, even though tiny and quite innocent looking, succeeds to get into Miriam’s shoes and to present us with a very focussed and strong-willed woman. She knows what she wants and she doesn’t hesitate to step outside that time’s boundaries to get it.

Chris Pine has the role of a shy man, but the type in which you know you can count on. More than once Bernie is called a good man. He strongly believes in what he does and he steps up when the situation calls for it. It is quite extraordinary to see Pine in a hesitant type of role, but he metamorphosed very well. With him in the lead you can see very clearly the changes Bernie goes through.

Richard Livesey is probably Webber’s biggest support when it comes to the transformation. Ben Foster shows us a cynical Richard, but one who can appreciate strength when he comes across it. Casey Affleck is an absolute surprise and, in a way, reminds us of Webber. His character Ray is the best at what he does, but he lacks the confidence to push the men to do as he says, which is why Frank is very useful. Of course, who would dare to mess with Graham McTavish? He is the type to offer the kind of support no one can say no to. What Ray lacks, Frank has plenty of, complementing one another. Both actors shine and make us realise it isn’t just about Bernie and Miriam, but about all of them.

The drama they live is emphasised visually all the time. And, when seen on the big screen, the panic they feel can be truly tangible to the audience.

The plot is a very good one. It’s intense and provides the audience with a bit of everyone’s story. We see how Eric Bana's Daniel Cluff feels as the outsider, how Miriam lives under what is thought women should and shouldn’t do back then, and we experience the confidence of a slightly older member of the crew who tries to inflict his ideals on the younger one. The Finest Hours has a bigger goal: it’s about community, fighting against the odds and going for what you think is right.