Heartwarming / K-19: The Widowmaker

• Practically everything Polenin does for/with his crew. He's rarely anything but optimistic around them, distracts them from the mounting danger by getting them to talk about their favorite foods, and immediately volunteers to be one of the first to work on fixing the reactor. A Father to His Men indeed.
• Vostrikov gets his share, too. While he starts out The Neidermeyer, and is unwilling to countermand his orders even after the reactor fails, in the end he defies his superiors and evacuates the ship. Polenin points out that it will get him sent to a gulag, like his father was before him. Vostrikov's response? "I guess it's a family tradition."
• When the crew is finally rescued, they speak in defense of Vostrikov at the inquest for the accident, Polenin most passionately. Polenin remarks that it would be an honor to sail under his command again, a deep switch from how he called out Vostrikov earlier in the film.