Tom Hanks shows how commander-in-chief he can be in “Greyhound’s” first tense combat sequence, when the title warship, which leads a convoy across the North Atlantic in the early months of World War II, spies on a submarine accelerating towards it from a dozen miles away. As the German submarine approaches, we hear a lot of military and fast-shooting navigation lingo firing back and forth among the sailors (“The effects of the hydrophone slow down the revs, sounds at 60 RPM, sir!”) The action unfolds, but what gives the scene excitement is the game of aggression and anxiety just below Hanks’s fixed grimace. He is the ship’s captain, Commander Ernest Krause, an unconditional and decisive leader of men, but the primary fear of battle is etched on his face.
As war movies have become more sophisticated in their realism, it is not just the roar of the noise of bullets or the dizziness of the battle flying over the land that can strike the audience with a plausibility that you are there. It can also take the form that a combat narrative takes. Rod Lurie’s “The Outpost” plunges us into the war in Afghanistan with an existential force rooted in its journalistic authenticity; There is no false arch in sight. And now, a week later, we have “Greyhound,” which is not a true story, is based on CS Forester’s 1955 novel “The Good Shepherd,” but it feels like one, because it’s a naval drama that limits the logistics of the battle moment by moment.
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In February 1942, the Greyhound led a convoy of 37 troop and supply ships through the most dangerous section of the North Atlantic: the so-called “Black Pit”, named for the fact that it is too far from any continent for military to keep the air cover. For approximately 50 hours of travel, the ships are alone, navigating the darker waters of the storms, although the real threat is submarines that continue to appear as the shark in “Shark”. Can the Greyhound crew fly a hulking submarine out of the water before the submarine does the same to them? Krause has a knack for barking at his men with turning precision that can meander a ship like the Greyhound out of the way of a torpedo at full speed.
Although much of the action takes place outdoors on the ship’s command perch, “Greyhound” often feels like an underwater thriller: tense, tight, boxed. Many of the images of battleships at sea are digital, and can be seen, but the film still does a scrupulous job of recreating actual images of war. The fetishistic military detail is in many ways more powerful than the drama, as “Greyhound”, which was written by Hanks and produced by his company, Playtone (director is Aaron Schneider), applies a newspaper-like discipline to represent the daily routine of war.
Most characterizations feel a little thin (because frankly, they are). However, that does not mean they feel false. Actors like Stephen Graham, like the faithful navigator Cole, and Rob Morgan, like the silent and compassionate African-American companion George Cleveland, make their presence felt. “Greyhound”, a battle drama that only lasts 80 minutes if you don’t count the credits, makes war the main character. The image takes us through an experience, with a share of the show but no free “explosive” razzmatazz, and is based on Hanks’ finely recorded but almost minimalist performance.
Hanks Krause, known to his friends as Ernie, is the officer as an enthusiastic conservative gentleman. When we first see him, he says his prayers and washes his face, and the film cuts to a date in the lobby of the 1941 Christmas hotel between Krause and his love, Evie (Elisabeth Shue), separating just as the war begins. . The scene humanizes an officer who turns out to be a severely religious man who lives every moment according to a strictly observed code. He rigorously watches over his men (considers it a violation of ethics if they utter a curse), says grace about the most impromptu snack, and when he finds out that the radar is off, even in the heat of an U-boat attack don’t scream a word of frustration. He says “Understood” and thanks the bearer of bad news.
When the mortars do not fire, the film flows, flows, occasionally sinks and sometimes rivets. At one point, a U.S. tanker comes out of nowhere, and when the two ships get close enough for the Greyhound to scrape a wound on the other ship’s side, we realize it’s a Titanic situation, with our heroes like the iceberg. Germans intercept radio signal to send derisive messages (“Did you think you had escaped from this gray wolf? You and your comrades will die today”) And on the last day, when Greyhound’s crew has exhausted almost all of their depth charges and the air cover seemingly enters at the last moment, a rush of relief and triumph is felt. What was it like to fight in World War II? For those of us who will never know, that question has a thousand answers. “Greyhound” does a robust job of representing one of them.
