Greyhound

Looking out into the cold, dark, deep waters ahead, not knowing where and when the pack of wolves will come for him, his crew and their precious cargo.

Tom Hanks is one of the few actors today who has the star power to achieve the feat of making this film - and having it bought for AppleTV+ to boot! See what I did there? I threw in a pun that relates to a classic WWII German submarine film - if you don't know it, then watch it.

Greyhound attempts to show a singular experience in the Second World War that has not been as well documented in films of the past couple of decades.  We've seen them storming the beaches again via Saving Private Ryan, fighting on the Eastern Front via Enemy at the Gates, the horror of the Holocaust via Schindler's List and how not to make a movie about the pacific war in the execrable Pearl Harbor (Midway helped salvage that somewhat).  Then, of course, there were Clint Eastwood's twin triumphs of Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. Suffice to say that there has been attention to this time in history, much of it accurate, some not. But the Atlantic has received short shrift in the war movie front.

Greyhound attempts to fix that and does so quite well. Greyhound was adapted by Hanks as screenwriter from C.S. Forester’s novel The Good Shepherd.

The plot: Captain Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) is given his first command, Greyhound, a US Navy destroyer leading a convoy of 37 ships (cargo, oil, troops) across the Atlantic in the months after the US entry into the war. 

There's no enigma code-breaking intelligence, no log range maritime patrol aircraft. Just the convoy, the ocean and the wolf pack awaiting.

This is the story of a single convoy crossing the Atlantic, the immense pressure of guarding thousands of men, tons of material and thousands of gallons of oil - all needed to build up the Allied forces for the eventual invasion of Europe on D-Day. The convoy defenders have basic sonar, primitive radar and skill.  The attackers have the advantage of concealment underwater or snorkeling during the day and the low profile of the submarine at night.

The characters: There is only one character in this story. He's a straight-laced, Christian who won't abide profanity, and has immense composure under pressure - unruffled whether making the right or wrong decision. The right calls aren't overly celebrated and the wrong calls roll off, to be further learned from in making the right call next.

All others are present to push forward the character arc of this man. That's probably the only concern that I had when thinking about it - even a story about a single person needs others. Sure, there's the  sonar operator who seems a bit green but clearly skilled, the Captain's diligent attendant, the executive officer trying to ensure that the ship continues operating while the Captain directs the battle. There is even a scene with Krause's wife (played by Elizabeth Shue) at the beginning of the movie that seems to serve only as a way to show us where the slipper he's wearing come from. 

The Casablanca connection: A story needs a strong character and Krause certainly matches Rick for that controlling figure of a film.  He loves his woman as Rick did Ilsa. He clearly know how to use his ship, as Rick did his bar. They both are fighting the Nazis with a clear head and clear purpose.  But Rick leads an ensemble, where Krause stands alone. You could have filmed Greyhound with an entirely different cast of actors around Tom Hanks and it would have been the same experience. That can't be said of Casablanca - sure Bogart was Bogart and irreplaceable in the role. Could the banter with Claude Rains have been as witty as with anyone else? Would the decision to let Ugarte be taken by the Vichy police have been as understandable if Peter Lorre had not been so stylishly detestable? And, of course, would anyone have made the decision at the end more difficult than giving up a life with Ingrid Bergman? I don't think so either.

The rating: 4 out of 5.  This is a tremendous film and a shame that its theatrical release was torpedoed by COVID-19. Also a shame that it came out on only Apple TV+ to a limited audience. I've read that Tom Hanks was disappointed too, probably in all aspects except the number of zeros on the cheque that Apple wrote.