The Finest Hours

UK Release Date: 19th February 2016

The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952 (www.imdb.com).

Director: Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Fright Night, Million Dollar Arm)

Starring: Chris Pine, CaseyAffleck, Ben Foster, Eric Bana, Holliday Grainger, Graham McTavish

Picture the setup of The Perfect Storm. The Finest Hours is dreadfully similar. A clichéd American civilian becomes a hero by defying the odds (and the sea gods). There's two of them too: the not-so-liked sea-man Casey Affleck who's stranded on a ship in Cape Cod with 31 other men, and awkward coastguard Chris Pine is one of four men braving the terrible storm. The main characters are under-developed, so caring for them is challenging. The high seas are crawl, constantly barraging our saviours with terrible waves. When Pine and his crew (which involves an underused Ben Foster) reach the Chatham bar, the tensity rises and the adrenaline starts pumping. But once it's over, you'll be wishing nature would rise up again, and boost the interest levels once again.

3/5