Greyhound movie review by Movie Review Mom

MOVIE TITLE: GREYHOUND AVAILABLE now on Apple TV+

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

When I first heard the title of this new Tom Hanks movie, I thought it was going to be about the bus company: Greyhound or maybe even about the famous dog breed. I hadn’t seen a trailer and I had never heard of this true story from WWII where an allied convoy gets stalked by German submarines Wolfpack for days. We’re told in the movie that during the Battle of the Atlantic, over 3,500 ships carrying millions of tons of cargo were sunk; 72,200 souls were lost forever.

But it had me at Tom Hanks. Who doesn’t absolutely adore Tom Hanks? He wrote the screenplay for this movie, as well as stars in it. The screenplay was based on the novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester. He also wrote the screenplay for Larry Crowne, which was just okay, but I really loved his screenplay for the movie That Thing You Do!. He even directed those two movies, but it’s Aaron Schneider who directs this film.

Have you heard of the Tom Hanks moment of the pandemic? It’s what some people are calling the moment that most Americans actually realized that the Coronavirus was dangerous.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Most kids will be bored, although it’s nice that there is a WWII movie rated PG-13, rather than R so that teens could watch it if they wanted to learn a little bit about history.
People die but you don’t see any bodies up close, other than the American flag draped over them.
Destruction of ships.

THEMES:

Heroism
Courage
Teamwork
Faith

THINGS I LIKED:

At the beginning of the movie, you hear real sound bites from World War II, which immediately sets the tone and establishes the urgency.
I love that Tom Hanks’ character prayed, quoted scripture, and was a man of faith. I can’t imagine going through WWII without faith. Tom Hanks is a master performer at displaying the Everyday Man meeting extraordinary challenges with heroism and humility. It’s the sixth time Tom Hanks has played a Captain!
There’s a lot of action. Almost non-stop, in fact. You feel the tension in almost every scene.
The bird’s-eye views were fascinating with good cinematography by Shelly Johnson.
The funeral scene was sobering and effective.
That Nazi German U-boat voice was super creepy.
You get to see actual film footage and pictures from the war on the sea at the end of the movie.
Beautiful sweeping music by Blake Neely.
Some of the shots were filmed aboard Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Montreal and the U.S. S. Kidd in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The movie is extremely efficient, clocking in at only an hour and a half to represent events that took place over 48 intense hours in real life.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

People might get bored listening to all of the technical, nautical jargon, not knowing exactly what’s happening.
Unfortunately, we don’t get to really know the characters well, so when their life is in peril, it’s hard to care a lot about them, other than they are fellow-Americans. There was potential to dive deeper into the characters and their relationships, but the opportunities were missed.
It’s a bit repetitive. Because there is tension in almost every scene, you almost become numb to it.
Lots of scenes where people are frantically looking through binoculars.
Some of the scenes take place at night, which will make it hard to see what’s happening if/when you watch this on small devices.
We never learn what’s going on with the Captain’s bleeding feet. It simply illustrates that he continues working hard despite his personal challenges.
Sadly, it’s forgettable.
There’s no humor. This film is 100% serious drama.

INTERESTING LINES:

“I will always be looking for you, Evie, no matter where I am in the world.” – Captain George Krause (Tom Hanks)
“What you did yesterday got us to today.” – Charlie (Stephen Graham)

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS I HIGHLY RECOMMEND:

<br /> I LOVE this movie!!!!

WATCH THE Movie Review Mom YOUTUBE REVIEW WITH THIS LINK: