This film starts kinda slow and unrelated to the story ( you expect to see) and it is rather slow paced at the beginning, but soon it gets more packed with action and rests until the end.

I enjoyed the film. It was even touching at the end. The fact that it is based on the true story does give it a plus. The breaking of a ship ( two, in fact) in haft because of the storm was really wow! I really got into the scene when they showed the first breaking of the ship. It was intense and really well done. I guess I liked those scenes which were filmed inside of the ship and all the hard work being done to prevent the sinking of it that caught my attention the most and the ones I really enjoyed. However, the relations between the sailors ( in the ship and at the land were somewhat superficially done and yes, you get that some of them are not liking each other, but, why is that is not rally explained and I though it should have been)

The love story that also goes parallel to the disaster at sea is sometimes sweet but most of the time is kinda blah and maybe it should have been cut in entirety from the film. It does add something to the film, but not that much in reality. But I guess it is important as it is one of the true facts.

All in all, not bad. I give it a rating eight!

After films like A Perfect Storm there is an element of seen it all before in The Finest Hours. It is based on a true story in 1952 when just off the coast of New England a severe storm cracked an oil tanker the SS Pendleton into two and the US coast guard headed for a risky rescue mission.

The film splits the scenes with the crew of the stricken ship, the rescue mission and the wholesome 1950s setting on the shore with the families at home waiting for better news.

Casey Affleck leads the beleaguered engine room crew trying to hold the ship together to improve their chances of rescue after the vessel's officers, radar and radio equipment has been lost when it breaks apart.

Coast Guard Chris Pine, just engaged to be married has been ordered to go out to sea with a small craft and a crew of four to rescue the survivors. His fiancée Holliday Grainger nervously waits for him at headquarters and makes the commander irate by wanting the crew to turn around.

The CGI enhanced rescue scenes are effective but the film is at times hammy and for large parts dull dripping with sentimentality as seen in the film's opening scenes and the cast mainly give underwhelming and in some ways caricatured performances.