Movie Review: Greyhound

Greyhound ** / *****
Directed by: Aaron Schneider.
Written by: Tom Hanks based on the novel by C.S. Forester.
Starring: Tom Hanks (Captain Krause), Elisabeth Shue (Evelyn), Stephen Graham (Charlie Cole), Matt Helm (Lt. Nystrom), Craig Tate (Pitts), Rob Morgan (Cleveland), Travis Quentin (Ipsen), Jeff Burkes (Shannon), Matthew Zuk (Flusser). 
 

Greyhound was supposed to come out in theatres in June – but we all know that didn’t happen, so the studio behind it sold it to AppleTV – who jumped at the chance to have a WWII movie with Tom Hanks in the leading role as a feather in its cap to draw more subscribers. It doesn’t benefit the film at all though – since the main selling point of the film is its authencity – it strives to make you feel what it was like on a US Navy Destroyer, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, heading up a convoy of ships, and trying to escape from German U-boats. Perhaps in a theatre – with the right sound, you may feel a little bit of that. But sitting at home, on my couch, watching Greyhound it all felt more than a little thin. They you are there authenticity is lost.
 
Hanks stars in the film – and wrote the screenplay – playing  Captain Krause, a veteran naval officer, who has been assigned to the lead ship of this convoy – codename Greyhound – even though it will be his first trip across the Atlantic. Krause is scared – but doesn’t want to show that to his men, and aside from a few moments here and there, you probably won’t feel it either (perhaps that’s why we have th scene with Elisabeth Shue as his wife in the beginning of the film – to humanize him a little more, to show that insecurity). Hanks, the writer, clearly prized authenticity and detail over everything else when writing the screenplay. It’s the selling feature of the film – but also its downfall.
 
That’s because for the most part, the film consists of Hanks’ Krause looking out of small windows at the head of the ship, and shouting orders to his crew. There are a lot of numbers shouted – where the German U-boats are, what distance, what position, etc. – and a lot of directions about how and when to steer the ship, to fire the guns, release depth charges, etc. It all certainly feels real – and I wouldn’t know if Hanks and company made it all up anyway.
 
Yet the film lacks what is really needed to make the film interesting. For the most part, we don’t see the German U-boats (they’re underwater, get it?) so they remain nothing but shouted co-ordinates to use, and occasionally a snarky, mocking voice over the radio. We often don’t see the other boars in the convoy either. We are stuck – with Krause and his men – who basically all blend together – for the duration of the movie.
 
Hanks and director Aaron Schneider (making his first film in a decade, after his promising debut – Get Low, I wonder what the story is there) seem to know this, so they keep Greyhound lean and mean – 91 minutes but you’re out in 80 if you don’t like credits. But there just isnt enough here to be all that interesting if you are super into nautical terms.
 
For Hanks, the actor, this role is a natural. He has often played characters – especially in recent years – who are heroic, but don’t like to talk about it, don’t like to call themselves heroes. Krause certainly doesn’t feel like one – even in the films stirring final moments, which Hanks underplays brilliantly. More of that, and less shouted orders, and Greyhound could have been something better than what it ended up.