Finally watched it yesterday. What a very good film. 4 out of 5 cups of coffee.
If someone told me I'd like a 90-minute film with almost no character development, narrow plot, and narrower and fleeting side plots, I'd have laughed at them. But that's Greyhound in a nutshell and people should see it.
It's about a destroyer captain escorting a convoy to England in WWII. That's it. The Elizabeth Shue part was one thing I could do without, but whatever. It was gloriously short even if I love me some Elizabeth Shue.
There's a palpable sense of tension for most of those 90 minutes. You know the end going into the story, but it keeps you on your toes. Casting is...who cares? Everyone does a good job. The movie was filmed on USS Kidd, a surviving Fletcher-class destroyer from WWII. Scans were taken of the only surviving Flower-class corvette up in Canada and allegedly the Polish destroyer depicted in the film. The film color is all grey and dark blue, muted, dark, nasty colors to match the weather of the North Atlantic and the overall mood. Even the white is a little dirty-looking.
History nerd me took issue with a few minor details, but whatever. One comment about bringing up depth charges from crew berthing was wild. We wouldn't do that and they were 600 pounds each. Second the U-boats weren't known for garish displays on conning towers. A few might take up most of the space between the upper splash guards, but not the whole tower as seen in the movie. Finally, Germans talking to our ships via our own TBS (Talk Between Ships) freq never happened. Pretty trivial...trivia I suppose.
Historically the ships were great thanks to the above. It also showed the segregation on US ships at the time. I can't speak for the accuracy of the ship's bridge scenes and commands, but I loved the messenger bits. Also, if you can't see or even feel Hanks' weariness, stress, and the draining nature of escorting a WWII convoy, something is wrong with you. They nailed this one.
Anyway, the movie is super short by modern standards and narrow in focus. What a really good film, but only available on Apple+. Bummer.
4 out of 5 uneaten meals.
