The Finest Hours

I’ve talked before about my love-hate relationship with disaster movies. Why just last year I thoroughly enjoyed Everest, (and seemed to be the only one) whilst other more bombastic films like San Andreas prove to be the steaming-turds they make themselves out to be. It’s rather fitting that most disaster movies by their very nature seem to teeter on the edge of failure, with many falling deep into the abyss of characterless, CGI-driven ludicrousy. For this very reason it’s all the more rewarding to sift through the crap and find those movies that actually bring something to the genre. Disney’s The Finest Hours is not one of those movies 

In 1952 off the New England coastline, a north-easterly shears the oil tanker SS Pendleton in half. The coast guard are dealing with another tanker in a similar position and can’t afford to send all their men to it. Bernard Webber (Chris Pine) is selected to pilot a lifeboat to the Pendleton, a lifeboat which is only designed to hold 12 people, but with 32 crewmen to save. 

It’s clear that the best disaster films hold a close relation to adventure films, whether it be Everest, Twister or All is Lost, there’s something about pioneers/explorers and their tragic destinies that appeal, and like a lot of films it helps if the story is grounded with realism and not Mayan prophecies. The Finest Hours bases itself off the true story of the SS Pendleton, and right off the bat it would be wise to read up before you enter the cinema, because the impenetrable New England accents combined with the gale-force sound effects make it almost impossible to understand what is going on most of the time. Directed by Craig Gillespie of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm, an equally unambitious movie, The Finest Hours seems content with letting melodrama and routine plot drive the movie, and as such it became increasingly difficult to invest in the characters or the events. 

Chris Pine gives a flat uninteresting performance equaled by many of the supporting cast, and honestly the only noteworthy performance was Casey Affleck. There’s an air of the old-fashioned both in the setting and style of this film and thankfully the CGI manages to restrain itself in the big set pieces, although by the time we get to these, any sense of tension is well and truly gone. I do respect the decision to take the time to try and build some of the characters, but as it focuses on two parties - those on the wrecked ship and the coastguard - it still never really gives enough time to any of them whilst still managing to slow the film down and move away from the action. There’s also a love story which feels very much tacked on. 

There’s not a lot more to say about The Finest Hours. Despite, or perhaps due to a surprisingly reserved style of filmmaking it fails to deliver on a story that had potential. Maybe that’s why it’s ended up in the early ‘dumping ground’ period of the year.

Deliver Us From Evil

Director Scott Derrickson seems to be drawn to horror. At least that's the genre that he fits best in. Both Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose are the standout films of his directing career. Deliver Us From Evil is probably not his best foray into the genre so far, but has great performances and a well-executed script that he co-wrote with Paul Harris Boardman.

Eric Bana plays Ralph Sarchie, a tough cop working in New York's south Bronx. He gets pulled into a case which leads him to meet Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez), who believes the case is demonically related. This pushes Sarchie's beliefs to the limit.

This is based on the real life Sarchie's non-fiction book 'Beware the Night'. While I like to believe that what I'm watching can happen in the world in which a movie exists, I find it very hard to believe that these things (demonic possessions and the like) actually occur in real life, but I'm not going to get into that.

The scares in this movie are pretty straightforward. Anyone with common sense would know when they are coming and get ready for them. I will, however, award points to this seeming mash up of cop and possession movies. I do applaud the original approach to the exorcism scene, it takes place in a interrogation room.

Most of the performance are really good. Eric Bana is a really subtle actor and felt believable in this role. I really felt as though the relationship between him and his daughter was genuine. Edgar Ramirez could have easily gone over the top playing a priest who performs exorcisms, but he was quite restrained.

Joel McHale is fantastic but slightly too generic as Sarchie's fast talking partner. Sure he has skills with knife, but when you fall into the same sidekick cliche maybe this isn't the role for you. Olivia Munn just floats around in the background looking good, but not really contributing anything.

Verdict: Cool story and idea, but not much too many good scares. A decent cast does lift it up.