Tom Hanks tries to complicate his stoic image by playing an insecure naval commander, but “Greyhound” can’t see anything below the surface.
At some point in his long and beloved career, Tom Hanks began to transition from America’s love to America’s serenity. He armed himself with a troop of soldiers on a true suicide mission in “Saving Private Ryan”, remained stoic as Somali pirates hijacked his container ship at “Captain Phillips”, and landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson without lose only one of the 155 souls on board in “Sully”. It is a screen image that has naturally spread to real life, as we saw earlier this year when Hanks became one of the first major celebrities diagnosed with COVID-19; His fame helped people recognize the reality of the virus, and his composure helped people prepare for his impending arrival on our shores.
At the same time, much of Hanks’ enduring relevance can be attributed to the enthusiasm with which he is complicated, subverted, parodied, and generally played with that person. There’s nothing he can do to be an icon, but like most of Hollywood’s brightest stars, it seems like he’d rather be remembered as an artist than a figurehead.
So when Hanks identified the 1955 CS Forester novel “The Good Shepherd” as the primary source material for his next performance vehicle, it’s safe to assume he was drawn to the role of Ernest Krause because the nervous and insecure Commander of the Navy. of World War II would allow him to interrogate the archetype he embodies in the second half of his career. What could be better than an underwater thriller to help someone explore their own depths? For the first time since “Larry Crowne”, Hanks even took it upon himself to write the script, making it even more puzzling that “Greyhound” is as shallow as a pool.
A streamlined, concise dad movie that’s shorter than a Sunday afternoon nap and just as exciting, “Greyhound” sways on screen like a nuanced character studio that’s been buried in a 2,000-ton iron coffin and drifted over the Atlantic. The film offers a handful of brief clues about the tortured hero Forester invented for his book, an ambitious but dubious career sailor who feared he would only be promoted due to the war and worried that he might not be fit to lead an army. of young men who had more combat experience than him, but everything is too concerned to stay afloat to profile the guy at the helm in any meaningful way. After a tense but monotonous 80 minutes of watching Hanks play a high-risk cat-and-mouse game with a fleet of German submarines, it’s hard to tell if Commander Krause has led his Mahan-class Destroyer through a dark night of the soul, or if you just managed to endure a bad case of dizziness.
Directed by Aaron Schneider (whose return to the big screen ends the 11-year drought that followed 2009’s “Get Low”), “Greyhound” plunges us into the Battle of the Atlantic as Krause attempts to lead a supply convoy through from the “Black Well”. “During the early days of America’s involvement in the war. It’s his first command, though it’s unclear if his officers can smell that on him, and Krause’s only reward for going through an invisible submarine maze will be a seat of front row in the European theater The best case scenario: he arrives in England in one piece, where he will be stranded more than 6,000 miles from the woman he loves (Elisabeth Shue, the only woman on the screen, putting on a pair of ultra-disposable clips (scenes that externalize Krause’s motivation and sink the film from the start.) Worst case scenario: the Nazis exploit him before he reaches the British shores.
The vast majority of “Greyhound” is anchored to the USS Keeling (played by the USS Kidd in what quickly becomes the film’s most layered presentation). The ship’s narrow interiors house a nervous crew of brave and only slightly interchangeable sailors, all at the mercy of Krause’s decisions. None of these kids have real bows, but “Love” star Kark Glusman impresses as a skilled sonar operator, and Stephen Graham rejoices in the opportunity to go to Brooklyn in the role of Krause’s right-hand man. These broad-stroke characterizations are easy enough to swallow in the midst of a death-defying mission that requires the absolute focus of everyone aboard the Keeling, from the gunners rushing through the decks to the humble black butler (Rob Morgan playing a squid part)) that keeps the snacks from reaching a hungry crew; his name is Cleveland, a detail that Krause forgets in one of the few moments that significantly humanizes them both.
Unfortunately, these supporting characters are trapped in a rudderless movie that wants to refract everything through its commander, but can’t find a way to get inside his head. Schneider has no problem selling us about the vulnerability of Krause’s fleet, as subs emerge through the waters like shark fins, and German commanders mock our heroes on the radio as if they were hunting for sport; That sitting duck feeling of being seen results in a movie that has less in common with “Midway” than something like “The Gray.”
Enemy submarines and ocean views come to life with a more advanced version of the same technology responsible for “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”, but the colorless death of the cold Atlantic seas helps disguise the computer-generated environment, even when the action becomes intense enough to punch a hole through that illusion’s helmet. If only the film would have hesitated less to play with its digital magic. When a torpedo falls from Keeling’s side at one point, the rhythm of action stands out from the cacophony without the form of screams and explosions that “Greyhound” replaces instead of a coherent naval warfare.
He is the exception to the rule in a waterlogged movie that refracts none of this empty spectacle through the only person whose experience could have made him feel like a sailor. Hanks is not bad, per se, but “Greyhound” has more trouble finding Commander Krause under his sweat flop than Commander Krause does to submarines lurking beneath his ship. It’s green and religious and tries to navigate through the toughest litmus test in modern history, but few of these details come into view during a movie struggling to see what’s beneath the surface.
Grade: C-
“Greyhound” will be available to stream on Apple TV + beginning Friday, July 10.
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