Greyhound (2020)
April 11, 2022 11:11 AM - Subscribe
Several months after the U.S. entry into World War II, an inexperienced U.S. Navy commander must lead an Allied convoy being stalked by a German submarine wolf pack.
This is a pretty enjoyable and we'll crafted straight WWII/suspense picture, that feels a little bit retro, in it's single mindedness and story arc. Hanks is one of those actors that can contribute to that retro feel with an air of sincerity.
posted by 2N2222 at 1:33 PM on April 11, 2022
posted by 2N2222 at 1:33 PM on April 11, 2022
I appreciated that there weren’t any scenes of the German sub crews. It made the submarines feel like predatory beasts. I know “dehumanizing the enemy” is not something one should do but it added greatly to the drama and tension for me.
posted by ejs at 1:41 PM on April 11, 2022
posted by ejs at 1:41 PM on April 11, 2022
The CGI is good, but the film is boring—heavy on naval jargon.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:00 PM on April 11, 2022
posted by Ideefixe at 8:00 PM on April 11, 2022
I read the book. It’s kind of Forrester’s take on “The Old Man and the Sea”, being composed almost entirely of the commander’s inner monologue as he computes and re-computes the probable position of the submarines while barking orders to his crew and communicating with the fleet. The movie brings some of that monologue into dialogue but most of it is left to be read on Hanks’ expression. To me the film was lacking the drama of the novel, because so much of that failed to come across.
I nearly wrote an Ask Metafilter about the book. The commander in the book is on duty for days and days without sleeping and under a great deal of stress due to, you know, commanding a squadron of naval vessels in combat. In the novel, his real enemy is not so much the German subs but fatigue. He refuses to go below and sleep, even for an hour or two. That makes sense. If something were to happen, he would be explaining in a court martial that he was asleep at the time of the incident, and during a combat action that wouldn’t do. He could have been declared medically unfit for command, but that wouldn’t look good on his record either. Is that really how it works in the military? The commanding officer is required to stay awake and on duty for the duration of a combat action? Or is there some other provision for relief? I remember a series of scandals in the U.S. Navy from a four or five years ago about seaman being required to work long hours with too little sleep.
posted by chrchr at 10:53 PM on April 11, 2022
I nearly wrote an Ask Metafilter about the book. The commander in the book is on duty for days and days without sleeping and under a great deal of stress due to, you know, commanding a squadron of naval vessels in combat. In the novel, his real enemy is not so much the German subs but fatigue. He refuses to go below and sleep, even for an hour or two. That makes sense. If something were to happen, he would be explaining in a court martial that he was asleep at the time of the incident, and during a combat action that wouldn’t do. He could have been declared medically unfit for command, but that wouldn’t look good on his record either. Is that really how it works in the military? The commanding officer is required to stay awake and on duty for the duration of a combat action? Or is there some other provision for relief? I remember a series of scandals in the U.S. Navy from a four or five years ago about seaman being required to work long hours with too little sleep.
posted by chrchr at 10:53 PM on April 11, 2022
My husband loves this movie and keeps showing it to different configurations of friends and family. I find it unwatchable with the interminable scenes of a guy saying numbers to another guy who says them to another guy, and then the second guy gets reprimanded for clearing his throat, while Tom Hanks is offered food he doesn’t eat.
There is some line between “I don’t know what is going to happen; this is suspenseful and thrills me” and “I don’t know what is going to happen, this is free of any context and bores me” that this movie straddles, where I’m on one side and my husband is on the other. I can appreciate there is craft in it, but it clearly wasn’t made for me.
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:12 AM on April 13, 2022
There is some line between “I don’t know what is going to happen; this is suspenseful and thrills me” and “I don’t know what is going to happen, this is free of any context and bores me” that this movie straddles, where I’m on one side and my husband is on the other. I can appreciate there is craft in it, but it clearly wasn’t made for me.
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:12 AM on April 13, 2022
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Possibly the best pacing of a film I've recently seen. It gets going almost immediately and never slows down.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:26 AM on April 11, 2022 [1 favorite]