Based on an extraordinary true story, The Finest Hours recounts the most daring small boat rescue in Coast Guard history. On February 18, 1952, a massive nor’easter strikes New England, wreaking havoc on the ships caught in its deadly path. The SS Pendleton, an oil tanker bound for Boston, is ripped in half, trapping more than 30 sailors inside its rapidly-sinking stern. It’s up to the senior officer aboard, Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck), to take charge of the frightened crew and encourage them to work together to keep the ship afloat for as long as possible. As word of the disaster reaches the closest Coast Guard station, Warrant Officer Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana) orders a daring operation to rescue the stranded men. Despite overwhelming odds, four men, led by Coast Guard Captain Bernie Webber (Chris Pine), set out in a wooden lifeboat with an ill-equipped engine and little, if any, means of navigation, facing freezing temperatures, 60-foot high waves and hurricane-force wind.
Directed by Australian ex-pat Craig Gillespie (Lars And The Real Girl, Million Dollar Arm), The Finest Hours is a courageous thriller about a group of men who never saw themselves as heroes. “It’s a very simple story about these guys who have a job, and it just so happens that on this day their job requires them to go out into the belly of the beast,” says Chris Pine. “It wasn’t done for glory and there wasn’t a self-aggrandising vibe to it…it was just men doing their job.”
In cinemas March 3.
