Greyhound Review: Tom Hanks' restrained performance is humbling; WWll drama deserves a big screen experience

Greyhound

Greyhound Cast: Tom Hanks

Greyhound Director: Aaron Schneider

Greyhound Stars: 3/5

It's almost unnecessary at this point to find flaws in Tom Hanks' acting range. Irrespective of the outer surroundings; the script, the supporting actors, etc., you can be rest assured a class act performance by Mr. Hanks at any given point of time. Greyhound, which was supposed to be a big-screen release, had to be relegated to the OTT platform because of the ongoing Coronavirus crisis. Unfortunately, Greyhound is the kind of project that needed the movie theatre experience for its explosive nature and minimal storytelling.

Let's first get to the storyline, which is based on C.S. Forester's 1995 novel, The Good Shepherd). Greyhound takes place during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942, just when the US started to make its presence felt in WWll. Steering the wheel is Captain Ernest Krause (Hanks) aka Ernie, who is alloted his first war assignment; he has to protect and defend 37 supply convoys moving from the US to Britain by crossing the dangerous waters of North Atlantic, where the notorious German U-boats wait eagerly for them. Krause is given command of a Fletcher-class destroyer, USS Keeling, whose code name is Greyhound. While it may seem like the Cap has everything under control; the Germans' wolfpack mentality comes to bite him right where it hurts.

At the heart of the ship, as you would expect is Tom Hanks' brilliantly restrained act as a weary captain, who flounders in his self-doubt while not just battling the German's tactical takeover but his own team's hesitancy towards his inexperienced actions. Krause is as humble as he's religious and no matter how deeply rooted the danger may seem, he never forgets to say his thank yous. When his comrade congratulates him on destroying his first U-boat depleting "fifty less krauts," Ernie bemuses, "Yes. Fifty souls." While in his introductory scene, we see a brief encounter between Krause and the love of his life, Evelyn Kraus (Elisabeth Shue in a forgettable cameo); the latter of whom refuses his marriage proposal out of fear of him never coming back to her, there's no emotional attachment that the viewer will genuinely feel for Krause. However, Tom is still able to instill some relatability to the anxiousness that Krause is battling within himself and the outside calamities through his array of playing war-centric characters in classics like Saving Private Ryan.

A huge drawback to Greyhound is that you almost have to negate the supporting cast to the sidelines as there's no character sketch meaty enough to claw into. To a certain degree, George Cleveland (Rob Morgan), the head chef, instills minor interest as he makes his way through the calmer moments before the storm to get Krause to eat something. However, the Captain prefers his coffee with nothing on the side, showing his nervousness towards his first assignment. Again, there's isn't a backstory... not even crumbles to have you react to these characters, unfortunately.

Now, for why Greyhound deserves a big movie experience; for its brilliant battle sequences. Most of the action takes place inside the destroyer's pilothouse and deck and the claustrophobic vibe will make you anxious, as one should feel while watching a war film. Just when you think everything is alright, the announcements come in three-fold of possible U-boats on the horizon and we're taken straight into the action, almost leaving one breathless. What's intriguing is that the battle sequences are not grandiose or over the top, but still have an impact at every command, every firing, every ship getting destroyed. Shelly Johnson's finely-tuned cinematography, Mark Czyzewski and Sidney Wolinsky's crisp editing and the stellar VFX takes us right into the action with no full stop. Moreover, Blake Neely's ominous music adds a sense of thrilling aspect to said sequences. It's a combination (that too tightly packed in under 91 minutes) that war film aficionados would compliment.

There's a sense of disbalance when it comes to Greyhound and this reviewer's point of view towards it. As someone who loves her characters just as much as the story, the Aaron Schneider directorial suffers significantly. But, then again, it seems as though the characters were never the main highlight of Greyhound and rather Hanks (Greyhound marks his screenwriting debut) and Schneider wanted the battle itself to be the central focus. Despite its tricky altercation of personal detachment in the storyline, Greyhound is not a complete bust. I rather enjoyed the thrill-seeking voyage, even if the actions mattered more than the people involved.