Finestkind ★★★½

WRITER/director Brian Helgeland returns to his roots for the drama Finestkind.

Yes, that’s one word, not two.

The fact Helgeland knows this vernacular for “the best” shows the Massachusetts born director is at home in a story set within the local fishing industry.

It has a strong cast headed by the great Ben Foster who plays scallop boat skipper Tom Eldrige who reluctantly agrees to take his younger half-brother on his first trip.

Charlie (Toby Wallace) is back from college and has a chance at going to university to study law. He joins the crew and unbelievably the trip results in a boat sinking and helicopter rescue.

All this happens within the first 15 minutes and is used to set-up two components of the story – Charlie’s captivation with the sea and fishing and Tom’s reckless character.

It’s the latter that lead to mounting financial problems and the crew accepting the offer of a risky, criminal activity in the pursuit of quick money.

Helgeland is foremost a fine writer, his best being LA Confidential and Mystic River, and here he takes time to expertly build all his characters and the required audience empathy before the film moves into more thriller territory.

The New Bedford setting is excellent but perhaps not shown to its greatest advantage. Where the locations are best used is on the ocean during the fishing sequences.

Also in the cast are Jenna Ortega playing a local drug dealer who has a relationship with Charlie and Tommy Lee Jones at his grizzled finest as Tom’s father.

But best of the supporting cast is Clayne Crawford as a crime boss who holds meetings at the local burger joint and appears happy to hang out and have a couple of beers with you for a few hours before he puts a bullet in your head.

Crawford has been around for 20-odd years. Recently he played Martin Riggs in the television series of Lethal Weapon (can’t comment – haven’t seen it) and starred in two strong 2022 releases The Killing of Two Lovers and the Integrity of Joseph Chambers and was good in both. Keep an eye out for him.

Watched on Paramount