Storming ahead

Rating: 3/10 (19 November 2016)

After films like A Perfect Storm there is an element of seen it all before in The Finest Hours. It is based on a true story in 1952 when just off the coast of New England a severe storm cracked an oil tanker the SS Pendleton into two and the US coast guard headed for a risky rescue mission.
The film splits the scenes with the crew of the stricken ship, the rescue mission and the wholesome 1950s setting on the shore with the families at home waiting for better news.
Casey Affleck leads the beleaguered engine room crew trying to hold the ship together to improve their chances of rescue after the vessel's officers, radar and radio equipment has been lost when it breaks apart.
Coast Guard Chris Pine, just engaged to be married has been ordered to go out to sea with a small craft and a crew of four to rescue the survivors. His fiancée Holliday Grainger nervously waits for him at headquarters and makes the commander irate by wanting the crew to turn around.
The CGI enhanced rescue scenes are effective but the film is at times hammy and for large parts dull dripping with sentimentality as seen in the film's opening scenes and the cast mainly give underwhelming and in some ways caricatured performances.