“Finest Hours” No Masterpiece but a Stirring Tribute to US
Coast Guard
By Skip Sheffield
The U.S. Coast Guard is the oldest branch of American
military service, dating to 1790. It is my favorite service because its primary
purpose is to save people, not kill them.
“The Finest Hours” centers on an incredibly difficult rescue
mission off the coast of Chatham, Mass, on Feb. 18, 1952 in the middle of a
ferocious nor’easter blizzard with high winds and higher seas. Two large oil
tankers were being battered apart and in danger of sinking. The movie, directed
by Craig Gillespie (“Million Dollar Arm”), concentrates on the more dramatic
wreck of the SS Pendleton. It was an older ship with a shoddy repair of an
18-foot gash. When the weld gave way the ship literally split in half. The bow
portion sunk quickly, taking officers with it. The remaining 34 crewmen huddled
in the stern section.
The commander of the Chatham Coast Guard Base asked for four
volunteers to get in a 36-foot rescue craft and try to make it out to the
sinking Pendleton. The first to put up his hand is Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) a
gung-ho Guardsman if there ever was one.
Chris Pine is an inordinately handsome man, but as an actor
he is a bit, ahem, wooden. Bernie is falling in love with gorgeous Miriam
(Holliday Grainger), who looks like a Disney princess come to life. The couple’s
romance, impending marriage and Miriam’s worry about the dangerous mission are
all subplot. Volunteering with Bernie are Richard (Ben Foster), Andy (Kyle
Gallner and Daniel (Eric Bana).
The de facto commander of the doomed Pendleton is chief
engineer Ray Sybert, played by Casey Affleck. Ray is not a very likeable guy,
but he gets the job done.
The voyage out of Chatham Harbor and into the open sea is
predictably perilous. There is a lot of grimacing, wincing and frightened looks
from all crew members. The special effects are reasonably good, but sometimes
you can tell it’s a scale-model boat being buffeted in a studio pool.
A nice thing the studio did was to invite a group of Coast
Guard veterans, decked out in formal regalia and seated at place of honor in
the VIP section. One of them was seated next to me. I did not ask his age, but
Bruce Parmett told me he was a Korean War veteran before joining the Coast
Guard. He teaches boat safety classes the fourth Saturday of every month.
“The Finest Hours” is no movie masterpiece but it serves a
noble service honoring the America military’s most unsung heroes.
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