Our Thoughts On Disney’s The Finest Hours!

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Walt Disney Pictures presents The Finest Hours; a film based on the novel of the same name which tells the true events of real life heroes. The Finest Hours is directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Million Dollar Arm) and written by the team of Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (all 3 last worked together on the academy nominated film The Fighter). The novel was written by accomplished novelists Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias.

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The Finest Hours tells the almost unbelievable true story of the most dangerous rescue in U.S. Coast Guard History. During the winter of 1952, off the coast of Cape Cod, an oil tanker was wrecked by a storm so powerful the torrential sea ripped said tanker in half. The first 20-30 minutes of the film is dedicated to introducing our characters. After the tanker splits the film itself splits into three consecutive story lines. The first storyline shows the survivors of the crew of the tanker (The SS Pendleton). In their story we see how a group of people that never got along in the first place now are thrown into a situation where they will most likely die.

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They are forced to band together and utilize what few resources they have left to both survive the intense cold and prevent the ship from sinking. Storyline number two is about the small crew of Coast Guard that went on the rescue mission. Their story is also one of survival as the four of them man a boat that is less than a quarter of the size of waves that are crashing on them. Faced many times with the option of turning back, their courage pushes them forward. The final storyline takes place on land (with the only characters not drenched) as we see the people of the town deal with the stress of their loved ones being stuck out on the sea in the deadly storm. All three stories are packed with real drama and all three share the theme of finding heroism in the most unlikely places.

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Our heroes are Bernie Weber played by Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness, Into The Woods), Richard Livesey played by Ben Foster (The Messenger, Lone Survivor), Ervin Maske played by John Magaro (Orange is the New Black, The Big Short) and Andy Fitzgerald played by Kyle Gallner (American Sniper). On the tanker is Ray Sybert played by Casey Affleck (Ocean’s Eleven, Gone Baby Gone), Wallace Quirey played by John Ortiz (Silver Linings Playbook, Steve Jobs), and Michael Raymond-James. Back on land is Miriam played by Holliday Grainger (Cinderella), Cluff played by Eric Bana (Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor), and Gus played by Beau Knapp (Southpaw).

The film is rated PG-13 for intense situations only, there are no vulgarities, sexual situation or violence. I had the opportunity to meet with the director and some of the cast of The Finest Hours and they all said they just wanted to do justice to these people that never saw themselves as heroes; they were all just doing their job. So instead of watching a space battle or comic book superheroes, why not go see a movie about real life heroes!

THE FINEST HOURS opens in theatres everywhere now!

For more info on the film visit the official THE FINEST HOURS website here: http://movies.disney.com/the-finest-hours

Photos courtesy of Disney Studios.

Jesse Delia

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