The Finest Hours: A Different Kind of Hero

The Finest Hours (2015 PG-13), directed by Craig Gillespie, tells the true story of a 1950’s Coast Guard rescue against all odds.

This movie is about heroes.  The people who sign up to serve their country in war and in peace, and risk their lives for others.  The women who wait.  The men who avoid panicking, and fight against the odds to keep their sinking ship intact until rescue.

 Holliday Grainger as Miriam and Beau Knapp as Mel Gouthro ©Disney Enterprises. CR: Claire Folger.

Yet the strongest person in the film is the fiance, the girl who barges in to tell the Coast Guard commander to bring her man back.  And also the Coast Guard widow, who packs her young kids in the car during a storm to take food to the community center for the survivors, if there are any.

The other heroes are unlikely heroes.

Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) and Tchuda Southerland (Josh Stewart) struggle to keep their ship, the SS Pendleton, from sinking.

Casey Affleck plays chief engineer Ray Sybert, an introvert who would rather tinker with his dials and engines than lead a crew. Yet he must, and reluctantly rises to the challenge of confronting much stronger personalities to do what must be done to save the ship.

Chris Pine plays Bernie Webber of the Coast Guard, a shy man who lives in the shadow of his big brother’s heroics. He leads a crew of four to almost certain death, knowing he is the only chance the stranded men have.  He can barely make eye contact, he is so shy.

Chris Pine is known for playing larger than life characters, so it is really fun to see him act out such a submissive character.

• STARSHIP CAPTAIN

Zachary Quinto, Spock, and Chris Pine, Captain James T Kirk in Star Trek

• PRINCE

Anne Hathaway, Princess Mia, and Chris Pine, Prince Nicholas, in a scene from the motion picture “Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.”  photo by Ron Batzdorff

• THE BIG BROTHER PRINCE WHO MOCKS HIS LITTLE BROTHER PRINCE’S HEARTBREAK

Love that scene from Into the Woods!

Back to our movie….Watch “The Finest Hours.”  Enjoy the performances.  Marvel at the daring rescue. Envy the 1950’s dresses.  Root for the survivors as the ship sinks.

Bring a jacket to the theater…Watching that terrible blizzard and rough seas makes a person cold!

Into Darkness: A Beginner’s Star Trek Review

We saw Star Trek Into Darkness (2013 PG13) as a family.  This movie is kind of a prequel to the TV show of the 1960’s, as the last scene is when the crew of the Enterprise takes off on their “five year mission to boldly go where no man has gone before.”  Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if they said “no man”, or “no one”.  Did you catch it?

As my teenaged daughter has not seen any of the other Star Trek movies, or any of the TV series, I wondered if she would enjoy the movie.  So, I prepped her by telling her basic character descriptions, such as that Chekov has a Russian accent, and that Spock has pointy ears because he is part alien.

Here’s her take on the Star Trek characters after seeing the movie:

• Captain Jim Kirk – a little self-absorbed, kinda bossy

• Spock – odd, weird, overthinks everything, never lies

• Uhura – is like, “Ok, I’ll do that,” to everything

• Bones – magically has an answer at the end

• Scotty – is smart, over exaggerates

• Sulu – a calm team player

• Khan – coy until the end, needs to be nice but is very evil

• Chekov – a little kid in an adult’s body

We all liked the move – great action, rare foul language, with small gifts to Star Trek fans.  However, did we really need to see the blond girl strike a pose in her underwear?

My daughter also liked it, but to her the story is over.  She isn’t likely to seek out more Star Trek movies from past years, or future sequels.  Unless she is with her parents!  Fun movie!