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.

Don't be put off by the Disney presence, as THE FINEST HOURS is a refreshingly old fashioned disaster-rescue movie based on a true story. The setting is 1952's Cape Cod, where a tanker is cut in two in a freak accident during a storm and about to sink; a rescue vessel crewed by rookies is tasked with helping to get the men off. The film cuts well between two concurrent plotlines, and of the two, the disaster stuff on the tanker is by far the better. The likes of Casey Affleck and Graham McTavish must use their wits to keep themselves afloat, and the CGI effects do a convincing job of painting the worst possible picture. Back on shore, the reliable Chris Pine and Ben Foster keep you watching, although I could have done without all of the sentimental romantic stuff with a shoehorned-in Holliday Grainger, only there to have the token presence of a woman in the film.

It's 1952 Chatham, Massachusetts. Coast Guard crewman Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) dates Miriam Pentinen (Holliday Grainger). He tries to get approval by his commander Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana) to marry Miriam. He always follows the rules. A storm roars in. The tanker SS Pendleton splits in half. Mild mannered engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) struggles to lead the men and drive the sinking stern onto a shoal. Cluff orders Bernie to take a small boat in a suicidal rescue mission.

This is great adventure on the high seas. Sybert's side of the story is compelling. It has action and brains. It has great tension. Some of it unnecessarily gets a little melodramatic. The Bernie Miriam romance is even more melodramatic. The first act about their courting could easily be cut in half. Chris Pine is miscast. He's trying very hard to be shy and somewhat fails. He's not the type. His mannerisms don't work. His acting doesn't stretch that way. Overall, this is a sorta Perfect Storm with some problematic acting and melodrama.