Movie tells story of Coast Guard’s ‘Finest Hours’

So it’s those scenes at sea that are the finest moments in “The Finest Hours”. That’s not an altogether bad thing. The new film that bears that name is a thoroughly old-fashioned movie, set in 1952, a time that feels in the distant past. And Pine’s reaction to them is, well, just to set his jaw and keep going. The plight of Webber’s fiancée Miriam (Holliday Grainger) back on land is much less compelling, full of standard-issue handwringing and grandstanding, with Eric Bana sporting an inscrutable accent as the arrogant Coast Guard commander who doesn’t understand the local seafaring dangers.

It is just one of many stories that will be told at the future home of the National Coast Guard Museum in New London. It’s Chris Pine, taking a break from his day jobs playing Captain Kirk in the “Star Trek” movies, Jack Ryan in the spy films, and Steve Trevor, the love interest in the forthcoming “Wonder Woman” picture. The depiction of the factual account gets so realistic and powerful that it will put you on the edge of your seat.

That storm, in 1952, was strong enough to crack not one but two oil tankers in half. Unfortunately, he is also compelled by the script (adapted from a 2009 book by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman) to present us with a lot of gripless stuffing.

There’s some decent suspense to the complementary stories of Webber and his crew attempting to reach the tanker, while Sybert leads his own crew in increasingly desperate attempts to remain above water. We think corny dialogue.

In the end, The Finest Hours is a meat-and-potatoes rescue story.

Otherwise, this movie is about the 2,000-or-so visual FX that director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) wields like a kid in a toy store, creating chilling ocean fury that Wolfgang Petersen probably wishes he’d had for Das Boot or The Perfect Storm.

That means Webber had to head out to sea at night in a flimsy motor lifeboat with a crew that only included Richard Livesey (Ben Foster), Andrew Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner) and Ervin Maske (John Magaro).

Gillespie, along with cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (“Goosebumps”, “Blue Jasmine“), plunges the audience into the heart of the storm, while numerous town scenes – appealingly aglow – suggest being shot through a scrim of memories and nostalgia.

A character like Webber’s usually is portrayed as a man’s man, someone who risks life and limb without so much as a second thought. But it’s easy to stay with both of them, and the other men they’re with, over every wave and every setback. In an effort at gender inclusion (and shore-bound tension), “The Finest Hours” begins by establishing the courtship of Webber and his eventual fiancée Miriam (Holliday Grainger), who frets and struts her finest hours in the Coast Guard station, berating the commanding officer (Eric Bana), and along the coast, waiting for Bernie’s boat to come in.