The Finest Hours

First Hit:  This long film attempted to highlight an amazing true story about a rescue made by the Coast Guard.

This is based on the true 1952 story where two oil tankers broke apart off of Cape Code in a huge storm.

Chris Pine, as Bernie Webber, is a follow the rules member of the Coast Guard. He’s quiet and introspective. He’s lacks outward confidence as shown in the first scene where he meets Miriam (Holliday Grainger) a woman he’s only written and spoken to.

Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) is the engine room seaman on one of the oil tankers. He does not get much respect from the rest of the crew because he is so focused on the ship. However, they end up turning to him for survival after the ship breaks up.

The film very slowly unwinds with the group of seasoned Coast Guard team has little confidence that Bernie is a good enough captain. No one makes it “over the bar” in heavy stormy seas, yet Bernie attempts and makes it.

The tanker crew turns to Sybert because he’s the only one committed to saving them all as a group. The film is about the rescue, about self-belief, confidence and romance.

Pine played this part in such a way that I did not find him very interesting or compelling. I did find Grainger’s character interesting and driven. Affleck was far more compelling in his role and I was engaged watching his role play out. Rachel Brosnahan as Bea Hansen a fisherman’s wife to also be very engaging. Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy wrote this adequate screenplay. I’m not sure whether is was the screenplay, actors or direction of Craig Gillespie that was the cause of this film dragging, although once the rescue actually begins, it gets better.

Overall:  Unfortunately I’m not sure the compelling real story came through in this film.

The Fighter

First Hit: A very good adaptation of a true story.

Often times the adaptation of a true story heads off the rails and almost makes the story/film unbelievable.

However in The Fighter you’ve got a good solid cast creating a believable and interesting story. Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward a boxer who has promise and is managed by his mother Alice Ward (played by Melissa Leo) and trained by his brother Dicky (played by Christian Bale).

Alice believes she is a great manager and is doing what is best for her son but the reality is she is using Micky to keep some money coming into the family and to support her motley crew of daughters who don’t do anything but bitch. D

icky was once a promising boxer and stood over Sugar Ray Leonard in a boxing match. However, the early fame and lack of an internal compass Dicky is now a crack addict and occasionally gets it together enough to help his younger brother Micky train.

All of this falls apart when a fighter Micky is supposed to fight gets sick and his mother and brother coax him into fighting someone weighing 20 more pounds than him. He gets slaughtered in the ring. After the defeat Micky starts to date Charlene Fleming (played by Amy Adams) who is a bartender and dropped out of college because she drank too much and partied too much.

She falls for Micky and also sees the sickness in Micky’s family and gets him to change managers and trainers which allow him to win fights. After his brother gets out of jail he and his mother try to get back into Micky’s good graces. In the end there is compromise between the two factions and Micky goes on to win the welterweight championship.

Wahlberg is wonderful as the quiet brother who tries to do the best for his family and himself. Wahlberg is physical enough to make the boxer’s life real on the screen. Bale is the true wonder of this picture. He has to get an academy nominee for this performance. When he is on the screen there is virtually no one else to watch. He eats, drinks, and lives Dicky Ward. One of the more interesting revelations is during the credits watching the real life Dicky and Micky interact. Bale is Dicky. Leo is perfect as the victimized, controlling, passive aggressive mother who really only wants what she wants and has no consciousness about others. Adams is very strong as Charlene. Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy wrote a very strong and engaging script while David O. Russell directed this great cast to perfection.

Overall: This is a very strong film if one can get over some of the difficult scenes in the boxing ring.