It has been a while since I wrote about a movie or two. That doesn’t mean I stopped watching them…I’ve slowed as I’m binge watching a slew of animated shows, plus staying on top of Lovecraft Country. Here’s the one in the clogged up queue I should knock out.
Tom Hanks demonstrates his writing chops again to tell the tale about how frightening it was to cross the Atlantic via (sailing) ship during WWII. Overall, Tom does alright. It’s not a home run but it was a tense 90 minutes since you’re hoping the non-warships make the journey without incident.
Greyhound is focused on the five-day stretch Allied air forces cannot help convoys traveling between the east coast of the US/Canada and the UK’s western shores. Thus, all the vessels, including the four warships escorting cargo vessels, liners and tankers are easy prey for the Nazis’ u-boat fleet (aka a wolfpack). This being WWII, the Allied warships have several advantages: the u-boats are easier to spot during the day, submarines have to surface every couple days to recharge their air supplies and in order to fire torpedoes, they’re vulnerable to depth charges and cannons.
Hanks definitely focused on realism with Greyhound. It’s cramped. Not everything works at all the time, especially when the temperature drops. Sonar is imprecise given the numerous ships out there with their propellers spinning. Black crew members are stuck being the vessel’s waiters. My favorite part is how the crew knows how to turn the Greyhound to make it face the torpedoes which makes the vessel “smaller” and the shot is more likely to get deflected by the hull’s angled front.
Is it worth watching? Given what little is new “in” theaters, I think Apple+ picked a good movie to back. Tom Hanks is a bankable, likable entertainer and he never phones it in, especially if he does more than act in the project.