I never thought I’d see Tom Hanks starring in a feature film with the same production values as a SyFy Channel original movie, but here’s Greyhound — an otherwise tight, lean, straightforward picture. Hanks plays a commanding officer leading a convoy of ships through dangerous waters, facing off against German U-boats during World War II.
Director Aaron Schneider and Hanks, who wrote the script, do a good job building suspense and developing a sense of urgency. For example, in the opening sequence the crew of the Fletcher-class destroyer Greyhound patiently stalks and intercepts a German submarine before eventually blowing it up with depth charges. This sets the tone for the rest of the film, with the tension steadily increasing throughout.
Later on, when the hunter becomes the hunted and the American destroyer comes under heavy fire, the captain of the more powerful German sub Greywolf radios the Greyhound to taunt the crew with omens of doom. Other than this disembodied voice, we hear or see no Nazis, and the Greywolf, like Moby Dick, appears only until the very end.
The constant threat of the unseen enemy lurking beneath the surface of the ocean heightens the uncertainty for the crew of the Greyhound, enhancing the already palpable sense of imminent danger faced by the American destroyer as it outmaneuvers the formidable Greywolf in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. The psychological warfare between the two captains escalates, culminating in a dramatic showdown that will determine the fate of the two boats.
Greyhound is at its best when decisions are made and orders are given on the ship’s bridge. Unfortunately, the thrill of the hunt loses its impact when we peek outside and see that the Greyhound is surrounded by a completely computer-generated sea that looks like an ocean of half-congealed grape jelly.
Overall, Greyhound delivers a gripping tale but falls short in its visual execution. A more realistic backdrop for the battle scenes would have been more effective. It’s hard to fully engage in the story when the environment feels artificial and disconnected from reality.
Say what you will about Waterworld, but at least it was authentic. I don’t care if they used a real body of water or just dug a giant pit and filled it one bucket at a time — the point is, it was honest-to-goodness H2O.
On the other hand, Greyhound’s Atlantic Ocean and everything in it — ships, submarines, explosions, the fucking water itself — achieves a level of fakery that even Hanks’s considerable gravitas can’t overcome.