Greyhound

Starring: Tom Hanks, Elisabeth Shue, Stephen Graham, Matt Helm, Craig Tate, Rob Morgan, Travis Quentin, Jeff Burkes, Matthew Zuk
Directed by: Aaron Schneider
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Drama
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The Greyhound fights to protect a supply convoy in the Atlantic from a fleet of German U-boats bent on their destruction.

Review:

Tim: I was really looking forward to Greyhound. Tom Hanks is my favorite actor and I was enthusiastic to see what he'd do here, especially considering he wrote the script as well. When Apple TV+ bought the rights, I had to sign up for that service for a month to be able to watch it. Hanks makes another very good movie, but yet again, he delivers a film that falls short of greatness. Make no mistake, though, Greyhound is a success- it's a relentless, intense, entertaining film. I was a big fan.

What struck me the most about this film is that it's a very tightly focused film. In an era when any worthwhile movie feels like it has to eclipse 2 hours, it was almost shocking to see that this one came in at 1 hour, 31 minutes. Director Aaron Schneider doesn't waste a second- every scene is propelling the action forward. On the other hand, though, they achieved this run time by cutting out nearly all character development. It feels so strange to say this about a movie starring Hanks (and written by him, too), but the movie seems wholly unconcerned with developing the characters. Hanks' Captain is the only one who gets real focus and it's perfunctory. He has a girl back home (Elizabeth Shue in a criminally small role). He's a deeply religious man. That about sums up his character. I don't think I remembered his last name at any point in the film. The supporting cast doesn't get much time, either. There's some good performances, but it's in the context of their jobs. Who these men were is an afterthought. This is really what prevents the movie from being great. It's odd, because Schneider easily could have added 10 minutes of character development into the film and would have still had a focused, lean movie. This is perhaps the biggest issue with the movie.

What's interesting is that without that focus on character, the movie does deliver a relentless action story. After the initial pleasantries, we dive into the action and it doesn't let up for the entire length of the film. While I wish there were more pauses, this does give Greyhound an interesting feel. Nearly the entire movie is one big battle, with only the briefest breaks in between. It holds your attention because if you take your eyes off the screen for a moment, you'll probably miss something. That did translate into an intense and exciting experience. A few times throughout the film, I had to remind myself to breathe. Schneider does a good job of pushing the story and the action forward in a way few films have achieved.

As far as Hanks, he's good in the role. It felt like a comfortable choice for him. He's played military men before, he's played captains, he's played men at sea. I'm not sure this role challenged him. It did, however, give him yet another opportunity to deliver a solid performance in a very good movie. He's one of the all-time greatest actors, and this is another win for him. I thought Stephen Graham did a very good job as well. He worked well with Hanks and while we didn't learn anything about him, he did his job well. The rest of the cast was fine, but so very few standouts. Rob Morgan creates some emotion in us, but again, his character is undeveloped. The cast is really Hanks and Graham.

Greyhound was a really good movie, an efficient and focused movie. I wish it had been great, but I'll celebrate good movies any day of the week. I had fun watching this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Captain Phillips, Saving Private Ryan, Bridge of Spies, Cast Away