Greyhound (2020)
The history of Hollywood cinema is full of heroes since its inception. It is enough to see the films of Frank Capra or Howard Hawks to notice it. In recent years, it is Clint Eastwood who has been in charge of telling stories about Americans who he considers deserve that qualification with more or less outstanding results. If we add to this naval stories in the context of a conflict, we can come across very interesting proposals such as The Hunt for Red October , even resounding masterpieces such as Dunkirk .
Leading we have an unquestionable actor like Tom Hanks . In a brief flashback we also see the appearance of Elizabeth Shue , a very popular actress in the '90s leading films like El Santo, Leaving Las Vegas or The Invisible Man and whom the years have treated well.
The first twenty minutes of Greyhound are very entertaining, they clearly mark the intention of the film to show the difficulties that represent being in the middle of the ocean defending a group of ships from the almost invisible enemy that lurks. It does this through two resources: the first is the focus on the mission leader, Captain Krause (played by Hanks), with a narrative that practically never abandons his point of view; and the second is to build on action without giving time to reflection, something that is missed at times. The drawbacks in the story arise mainly from the repetition, with a flat structure in which each guard relief is to try to repeat what happened in the first minutes of the footage, including the dialogues loaded with technicalities and commands that should be very interesting for fans to navigation, but they do not provide some level of narrative depth that allows for more empathy with these professionals. It is clear that the story comes from an expert in naval tales like CS Forester , although curiously the script was written by Hanks himself. For a moment it recalls Captain Phillips , also starring the great American actor, but with the absence of the narrative, visual and dizzying power of a director with proven talent like Paul Greengrass .
If to this we add the contrast of the counterpart, of the hero who does not sleep; that every time he wants to eat, something interrupts him; whose feet bleed in pursuit of duty and who is kind to his subordinates even when they make mistakes, we collectively get a sort of conventional and ordinary filter of great successes from selfless and blameless American heroes.
Despite this, Greyhound has remarkable moments, such as the chases of the submarines and their respective battles, shown with efficiency and generating tension that motivate us to follow the story with some interest. The musical accompaniment, much indebted to Hans Zimmer , is well assembled in the final ensemble, although silence is sometimes missed. However, specially made songs are heard to identify the appearance of the Germans that do not clash with the scene. In the light, winter gray tones predominate with a digital cleaning very characteristic of contemporary cinema, something that is not always appreciated.
In short, this proposal directed by the unknown Aaron Schneider is an artifact put at the service of a talent like Tom Hanks who, without shining, delivers truth in each scene with skill and seriousness. An hour and a half entertaining, enjoyable and appropriate for this long wait at home.