Greyhound

Have you seen Greyhound starring Tom Hanks yet? We watched it recently and I thought I would share my thoughts on it with y’all. I’m a huge history buff and I enjoy most movies Tom Hanks is in.

In a thrilling story inspired by actual events from the Battle of the Atlantic, Tom Hanks stars as a first-time captain who leads a convoy of allied ships carrying thousands of soldiers across the treacherous waters of the “Black Pit” to the front lines of WW2. With no air cover protection for 5 days, the captain and his convoy must battle the surrounding enemy Nazi U-boats in order to give the allies a chance to win the war. The film is directed by Aaron Schneider from a screenplay by Hanks.

DIRECTED BY:AARON SCHNEIDER

SCREENPLAY BY:TOM HANKS

BASED ON THE NOVEL “THE GOOD SHEPHERD” BY:C. S. FORESTER

PRODUCED BY:GARY GOETZMAN

CAST:TOM HANKS
STEPHEN GRAHAM
ROB MORGAN
AND ELISABETH SHUE

This film is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for the following reasons: war-related action/violence and brief strong language.

As much history as I have studied, read, and watched I have never heard of this battle. The movie itself is actually really good although it is all about the naval battle that happens. There is very little outside of these events that happen. Although we do get a glimpse of Commander Ernest Krause prior to the battle in the beginning. Once we get into the water it is all about the events that happened.

Tom Hanks plays Krause, a career naval officer given command of a destroyer, the USS Keeling (call sign Greyhound. Krause led a convoy of 37 Allied ships across the Atlantic in early 1942 in what is known as the Battle of the Atlantic. It was a non-stop cat-and-mouse game between Allied ships and German U-boats that spanned the entirety of the war and cost thousands of lives. Hollywood has had many WWII movies but there have been few, if any, on this particular battle of the war.

I have seen a lot of war movies and this one in set apart in that every single order is shown as being repeated right down the chain of command, pretty much every time Krause gives it. That’s great but I would have loved to had a little more time with the human side as well. For example the screens where Krause is praying breakfast provided by head chef Cleveland (Rob Morgan) or speaking with second-in-command Charlie Cole (Stephen Graham) are few and far between. There are enough that you care what happens to these characters.

Every actor played their parts beautifully. At the end I was left with a sense of relief that the battle was over and sadness that lives were lost. Tom Hanks does a magnificent job of portraying those same emotions as Krause. We immediately know that this a man tasked with an almost impossible job but determined to see it through to the end. He knows what is at stake and willing to sacrifice his life to achieve that goal. However, he doesn’t take giving any command lightly. He is conscious of the consequences of each of decision he makes and at times is troubled by them.

My biggest issue was the sound, we had to turn our 65 inch television almost all the way up to hear it. It was so low and I checked with other movies to see if the problem was with my television.

Greyhound gives us a serious movie that is filled with the determination to succeed and the hope of a generation that was determined to stand up for what they believed in by going to war. It is a great movie that I am so glad I took a chance on.

Now playing on Apple TV+.