Director - Aaron Schneider
Cast - Tom Hanks, Elisabeth Shue, Tom Brittney, Rob Morgan, Stephan Graham, Karl Glusman
Genre - War/Drama
Streaming On - Apple TV
"Dear Lord, let your Holy Angel be with me. That the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen."
Greyhound is an American war film directed by Aaron Schneider and starring Tom Hanks, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester. The plot follows the US Navy Commander Ernest Krause on his first war-time assignment in command of a multi-national escort group for an Allied convoy across the Atlantic during World War II. His convoy, however, is pursued by a German U-boat Wolfpack. This is the true story of the Greyhound and its Captain in what would come to be known as the longest, largest and most complex naval battle in history: The Battle of the Atlantic.
Greyhound is a not just a simple war film, rather a rare cinematic experience being showcased from the eyes its Captain. The Captain of the ship is also the Captain of the film, the movie revolves around how Commander Ernest Krause shepherds his men and the escort group across the freezing Atlantic with the Wolfpack right on their stern. The movie is a stunningly detailed and well depicted slice of World War II Naval history which makes you feel the thrill all across the film. This naval warfare film has not shed light even once on the atrocities of war and effect of war on the souls onboard the ship and has yet been able to send chills down your spine.
Unlike other war films, its fast paced and has action sequences as thrilling as car chases but loses out on low or no character development. Greyhound leaves you with pumped up adrenelaine and sweaty palms but fails to make you emotionally invested. The film with its technical advancements and vivdly extraordinary cinematography, overshadows the fact that the film is a all Hanks show. Even though released as an Apple TV Original due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this movie deserves a theatre re-release as it provides a turly cinematic experience! With a focused story, bone-chilling sequences and no unnecessary cameo`s, Greyhound turns out to be seaworthy enough to make it across.
JRating: 8/10
JRev: One of the most thrilling depiction Naval Warfare which deserves to be re-released in cinemas for viewers to experience its theatrical exhibition.
Bonus-
Tom Hanks himself wrote the screenplay of this film and did a well-craft job in writing an adaptation of The Good Shephard. Even though the movie is not as good as the likes of Saving Private Ryan, it still is one of the best enactment of an under-acknowledged arena of combat which is delivered perfectly even with its economical style of storytelling.