The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

QUESTION: Which of these two stories sounds more interesting?(1) A Coast Guardsman has to pilot a tiny boat into the middle of a storm in order to rescue a group of people stranded on a sinking ship.(2) When his ship is caught in a storm and splits in half, the bow sinking and taking with it the entire bridge crew, an ordinary seaman finds a way to jury-rig the stern half of the ship with a manual rudder steered by his surviving shipmates in an all-out effort to drive it to shore.If you're "The Finest Hours," the answer is obvious - the first story."Wait," you may be asking, "what was that about some guy driving half a ship?"Oh, don't worry about that.Yes, this is the biggest problem with "The Finest Hours" - its fatal decision to tell the story from exactly the wrong perspective. It's a decision so bafflingly stupid I can't get my head around it. It completely ruined the film.Chris Pine plays the aforementioned Coast Guard sailor, and his arc takes up most of the running time. He's not a particularly interesting character, yet from the very beginning of the film, we see everything through his eyes. We see him fall in love with his wife in a first act that drags and drags. It lulls the viewer into thinking he's seeing some kind of romance rather than a heart-stopping real-life adventure. The actual plot ends up blindsiding the viewer.It's not until the second act that you really get a chance to meet Casey Affleck, who plays the seaman on the doomed freighter. Right away, we see he's not respected by other members of his crew, and in fact is a bit of a recluse. But when the storm tears apart his ship, he suddenly finds himself thrust into a leadership role. Taking the initiative, we see him come up with an insane plan to drive the broken part of his ship to shore. And, more unbelievably, it actually works - he even manages to beach the ship within sight of land.But the film doesn't care. I'd be generous in saying that it thinks that both Pine and Affleck's characters are equally compelling, but it just isn't true. Pine's story continually interferes with Affleck's, so much so that we miss some of the most interesting moments, such as the trial-and-error that must have happened as Affleck worked out his radical plan. In its place, we have to endure Pine's dull romantic subplot with his anxious wife, as if the story's really about them at the exclusion of everyone else.The ultimate absurdity is that the film seems to become aware that Pine's arc isn't as interesting, and has to reach to make up for it. The defining scenes are when Pine's boat is confronted with a single wave that is his biggest obstacle leaving and returning to the harbor. Both scenes of the wave are slowed down for dramatic effect. But it's laughable when you realize how small his boat is, and thus, how small the wave must be. It just doesn't compare to the borderline superheroics of Affleck's character which - it must be said - involves traveling much further than Pine ever does.Oh, and I forgot to mention - there are actually TWO ships in danger, which is the whole reason Pine gets stuck with the small boat. We don't see what happens on this second ship at all, or the rescue that takes place. Pine's arc makes it completely irrelevant.This film symbolizes a very real problem in America with regard to its hero worship. There's this mistaken belief that a man or woman in uniform doing his duty is every bit as heroic - or more so - than an ordinary person who goes above and beyond the call of duty. And, don't be mistaken, that's exactly what's going on here. Pine may have been dealt a cruddy hand by having to pilot a small boat, but he's just doing his job in going out there. Affleck, on the other hand, could've easily just given up or tried to save himself - after all, none of his shipmates liked him. But he didn't, and he went well above and beyond what was expected of him. Affleck is the true hero of this story - Pine is merely a supporting actor.Think of this in the context of "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) (spoilers ahead on this film, too). Though a fictional film, "Poseidon" chooses to focus on the normal passengers who try to fight their way to higher ground in a capsized ship. These Affleck-like characters are the heroes of the story, and everything is told from their view. The Coast Guard has a role as well, but they only arrive in the final minute of the film, after the passengers did 95% of the work in saving themselves. Just because the Coast Guard do dangerous work doesn't mean they're always the heroes. And, guess what - they're not as relateable to a typical audience as people like themselves.This is exactly how "The Finest Hours" should have been made. It should have started with Affleck on the ship and stayed with him for the entire film. We should've learned more about him, why he is the way he is, and why the others don't respect him. We should've seen every moment of his unbelievable courage, and wondered moment by moment if he would succeed. You can still put Pine in the story, but have him show up as one final obstacle. Think of the drama where, after all Affleck does, we discover that the only ship that reaches them is one too small to save everyone. Unbelievable! That would've been such a tremendous reveal and really added depth and action to the story.Who's to blame? Well, the writers, of course. How could they not have seen this? Maybe they wanted to show the heroics of both sides, but really, when you look at the story, the characters just aren't equal. The story demands better than what they gave it. A simple script revision would've fixed this. It's clear such revisions weren't attempted, and they rushed the first draft of the script. For shame.It may seem silly to criticize a film based on real events, but that doesn't mean there's only one way to present it. And if one-half of your story is vastly more interesting than the second half, why not feature it more? At the end of the day, big-budget films like this are entertainment, and you have to put your best foot forward.Two out of ten stars for Affleck's awesomeness, proportionate to how little of it the film lets you see.

I was so looking forward to watching this movie. I'd heard the comments about all the nominations for awards and so it has been on my most wanted list.Chris Pine is one of my favourite (English/Australian spelling) actors, as is Casey Affleck, and that big Scot, Graham McTavish, what a real let down from Game of Thrones and Outlander for him.It was such a shame to see so many great performers being undervalued by lousy direction. Every element for a terrific suspense filled drama was there waiting for the right direction and timing. Instead we got left with all the high drama being dawdled up to and then let slide down the other side with a whimper. Even the music score was no help. Chris Pine looked like he just wanted to sleep and I can understand that it probably was his frustration with the director. He had next-to-nothing to do. Into The Storm this wasn't, but it could have been and maybe even better. Too bad, so sad.

Yes. First thing first, like I said on the tittle, if you are looking good old and well made disaster movies, you WILL like this. Especially this one is almost "identical" movie to Perfect Storm. Both tells the true story about accident on the sea.But about this movie. It is true story of oil tanker, SS Pendleton, which broke into half near of east-coast of USA. This accident happened in 1952, so the movie and milieu is just like that. Like you really can see that like cars and clothing really is old. The crew manage to keep half of the ship on surface and soon Coast Guards hears about the accident, they'll have to do what they have to do. The weather is worst possible but they will start the massive rescue operation with small crew - and with the small rescue boat.The storm and the filming in the sea is really well made. It looks real and you really can feel that you are also in the middle of the storm. Acting is also very good.There still was couple things that took away those 2 stars. And that was the woman, and such a cliché love story behind it. Well, this IS the production of Disney after all.. What can you expect.But if looking the big picture, this movie is totally worth of watching! It's really hard to say which one I would pick if I must choose between The Finest Hours and the Perfect Storm! I recommend both! These offers amazing experience of moments of disaster on the sea.

I am rather disappointed by all the negative and meh reviews about this film so I am chiming in with my two cents, for what its worth.Chris Pine was the hook that drew me into this selection when it popped up on Netflix. The movie starts with a romance that is refreshing in that the woman who captures the heart of the lead is rather pushy and a bit more assertive than we'd expect for the time period. It was a neat twist and I rather enjoyed watching Chris Pine's character tangle and be entranced by such a woman.After the love angle is squared away, the story turns to the heroic true story of Bernie Webber. Which, upon checking further into that story, I found it is definitely a tale worth telling and surprisingly the film doesn't stray too far from the facts.The film is a mixture of The Perfect Storm and Hacksaw Ridge. The perfect storm angle is that there are two tankers in distress during a big winter storm at the same time. The report of the foundering of one tanker is mistaken for the other. With all resources aimed at saving the first of the two tankers, the rescue of the crew of the second is left to Bernie Webber and the single remaining too small coast guard ship in the marina.The Hacksaw Ridge angle is that there is something so real about the people in this film--a real humanity to them. Also, there is a mixture of dignity, humility, strength and integrity in all of the characters and its not something I've seen in a film or on the page in a very long time. For me film was very nostalgic. Bernie Webber , as played by Chris Pine, reminded me of my father in many ways as well as all the men I knew and admired as a small girl. The story reminds of a time when people did the things they did simply because it was the right thing to do and did these wondrous things with humility and a quiet strength.Best scene....Webber's hands shaking upon taking the helm to try and return to shore.For these reasons alone, its a film worth seeing.