On the online platform Apple TV+ came out Navy gunman Aaron Schneider’s “Greyhound” with Tom Hanks in the title role of captain of the American destroyer escort, the convoy of the allies during the battle of the Atlantic in 1942. Says Julia Siegelman.In a small prologue pictures captain Eric Krause found in the lobby with a sweetheart (and is an optional female lead in the film is played by Elisabeth Shue), gives her a Christmas toy with a quote from the Bible and offers urgently to get married before he went to his first flight as a commander of a combat destroyer. The woman offers politely refused, promising, however, to wait for the hero, as expected, at six o’clock after the war. Why in his old age he received a command post, and why, for all his piety still not married — is not explained. It is enough that it plays Tom Hanks, and thus, the viewer by default, understands that this man in the highest degree proper, honest, direct, a good job, a faithful servant of American democracy and the father of soldiers. As it turned out, a suitable quote from Scripture saved him literally for any occasion (whether it be a funeral for fallen comrades or a fight between two sailors), a Christian charity, he is willing to extend even to the enemy, but we about it never learn.The hero of the novel by Cecil Scott Forester the Good shepherd (1955), on the basis of which Sam Hanks wrote the script of “the Greyhound”, was not so simple: a dangerous crossing of the Atlantic ocean infested by enemy submarines, it was rhymed with overcoming captain Krause of his own fears and inner doubts that have accumulated over the years, but did not bring satisfaction service. Perhaps it is the opportunity to play is not very definite, although, of course, a positive character and drew Hanks, but somewhere along the way from the pages of the novel to the screen all the interesting details are lost, and captain Krause turned in another embodiment of the “American Pope” — image, firmly stuck to the actor is not just a movie, but in real life (not for nothing is he urges citizens to wear masks). In full compliance with this paternal image of the only human part that remained in the film, is presented to the heroic captain of the beloved Slippers that he change shoes in a particularly crucial moment.The rest of the crew of the “Greyhound” went less. Though Krause, following his role, and worried about them all, as for the relatives, for the viewer, they remain indistinguishable from each other cogs in the mechanism of the military, interacting with each other when assistance is not available to the civilian understanding of the jargon. Perhaps the most interesting character here is actually ESM��Heff, and his broken “windshield wipers” for the portholes is more emotion than in all the many close-UPS of captain Krause put together.Nevertheless, the naval battle, which occupies the bulk of the screen time desperately lacks tension, and it is not even that first frame it is clear who will come out of it a winner. Although, knowing that it will be valiant Krause and his team, it is difficult to respond to the mocking speech of the Nazis, which they transmit to us the radio frequency in the hope to demoralize the enemy — mostly, apparently, a caricature of a German accent from old movies. The battles themselves are shot quite skilled (not for nothing is the main profession of Aaron Schneider’s statement, a “Greyhound” is only the fourth entry in his directorial summary): the shells are broken, the wind tosses the salt spray in the faces of the characters, an enemy submarine lurking in the depths under the whistling notes of the soundtrack, inadvertently reminiscent of the movie “Jaws”, the ships are effectively blazing in the darkness of night, the credits are counting down the precious time remaining before the advent of air cover; in one truly impressive scene of German torpedo passes close to the destroyer, who had a miracle at the last second to perform the life-saving reversal. However, in those moments when the camera shoots up to reveal a theatre of war as a whole, it becomes finally clear that instead of fighting for life and death unfolding on the screen devoid of any depth, the game of naval battle with toy boats. And unlike their characters the authors have missed all targets.
