The last time Tom Hanks was on a boat for a historical thriller, we got Captain Phillips, his best work of the 2010s. Seven years later, he’s back in treacherous waters with the World War II-set Greyhound, and while swapping Paul Greengrass for Aaron Schneider (Get Low) results in a downgrade in style, the tension and entertainment value remain nearly as high.
The streamlined script, written by Hanks and based on the novel The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester, establishes the basic wants and history of Admiral George Krause (Hanks, natch) in hokey, wooden scenes with fiancée Evelyn (Elisabeth Shue) in a San Francisco lobby in December 1942.
The Hallmark-style interactions continue on the titular battleship under his command, leading a convoy of supply ships to England in the Black Pit section of the Atlantic — the multiday stretch outside Allied air cover — but soon blessedly fade once German U-boats attack, cued to a score suggesting that the Nazi vessels are whales fond of the Psycho score.
At that point, Greyhound basically becomes a submarine movie, but with the added beauty and terror of the surface-level open sea. Working with good enough special effects, Schneider orchestrates the exciting battles in an easy-to-follow fashion where even the plentiful nautical military jargon of Hanks’ script makes sense to laymen.
Multiple faces on the ship, in particular Stephen Graham (The Irishman), are recognizable, but while none receive a fraction of the basic background sketch bestowed upon Krause, each works well as a cog in the impressive machinery. In particular, Rob Morgan (The Last Black Man in San Francisco; The Photograph) has an oddly thankless role as food-server Cleveland but nonetheless leaves his mark through kindness and duty.
True to military form, Cleveland and everyone else are in service to a larger mission, this particular one under Krause’s leadership. And as the stand-in for the captain’s all but anonymous crew, Hanks channels their fear and especially sense of loss through his unmistakable facial reactions.
The actor’s performance proves key in a situation where it makes sense for one figure to take the lead, and with a story that feels as if it conveys nearly all it needs in a nicely compact 80 minutes, it’s difficult to argue with that approach.
Available to stream via Apple TV+
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