Review of The Finest Hours (2016) by Themattman2 — 02 Feb 2016

I’ve finally reached “that age.” Most actors and actresses I see on screen are much younger than I am. I find myself saying, “those kids are too young to be doing stuff like that!” And yet, they aren’t. I’m just getting older.

The movie takes place in the 50’s and that makes me feel old. There’s all these old cars driving around that were state-of-the-art back then, and kids dating reminds you that your parents and your parent’s parents were once young.

But in some ways, things are exactly the same. The ocean is still powerful. I heard an interview once with a guy who used to be in the navy. He said the biggest lesson that he learned and knows to this day is that, “The ocean doesn’t care about you.” It is a huge “force” that’ll snap a boat in half like it was a toothpick. That’s what happens here. Two oil tankers, mountains of floating steel, broken in half by a raging ocean. It was a wonder of human perseverance from two ends. A crew on a broken ship trying to stay afloat and a crew on a tiny rescue ship trying to find them.

It had all the makings of a riveting tale. In the end, it was just pretty good. I liked it, but I probably won’t see it again.

It was funny during the credits to see the real people from this tale. They looked very different from the Hollywood “pretty people” that played them. If I’m ever in a film adaptation, I want my part to be played by The Rock. Can we put that down?

When it comes to matters of the ocean, I don’t know that a ton has changed since the 50’s. The ocean is still a deadly place at times. That was cool to watch. Sure, the drama was retelling a 60-year-old story, but it could have just as well been today. Well done, Disney.