‘The Finest Hours’ Trailer: Chris Pine Leads a Daring Rescue

See, this is why I don’t like boats. They’re wet. They’re cold. They’re full of scurvy. And then, all of a sudden, they split completely in half and you have three hours before the whole thing sinks and everyone dies. Boats suck.

I assume this is the message of the upcoming thriller The Finest Hours. That, or it’s a story about the heroism of some incredibly brave men from the United States Coast Guard who braved a nor’easter to rescue the crew of the SS Pendleton on February 18, 1952. Hey, maybe it’s both.

Star Trek’s Captain Kirk Chris Pine plays Bernie Webber, the man leading the charge to save the Pendleton crew, whose leader is played by Casey Affleck. The strong cast also includes Ben Foster, Eric Bana, John Magaro, and John Ortiz. The film’s directed by Craig Gillespie making his first real large-scale film; he’s previous helmed smaller stuff like Lars and the Real Girl, the remake of Fright Night, and Million Dollar Arm.

It’s certainly a fitting trailer to watch on Veterans Day, and the madness of the angry sea looks pretty terrifying (and evokes memories of The Perfect Storm, another terrifying nautical thriller). The Finest Hours opens in theaters on January 29, 2016, though, and that’s got to make you a little nervous; effects-heavy bio-dramas tend to open in the fall or summer unless they’re bad. Hopefully The Finest Hours is the exception to the rule. I still think they should have called it Boats Suck though. Much more evocative and accurate to the situation.