One of the year's best movies

Tom Hanks recently said it was “heartbreaking” that “Greyhound” would not be played in theaters. No arguments here. This is a spellbinding achievement that should have been viewed in the dark, on a big screen.

Hanks, who wrote the screenplay for this, also plays Ernest Krause, a career Naval officer who is finally given his shot at captaincy of a vessel during World War 2. His mission is to lead a convoy over a three day period, across a treacherous spot in the Atlantic known as The Black Pit, in order to supply resources to allied forces.

“Greyhound” is literally and figuratively a gathering storm. The sky becomes overcast, the ocean roils, then we get a sense, but not yet a vision, of what the real threat will be. A German u-boat appears on sonar and the first 20 minutes of the film are just a white-knuckle bit of trying to figure out where it is and when it will strike.

Then the film becomes literally a metaphor for 2020; anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Ships are attacked, Krause’s vessel begins to ice up, the enemy taunts and produces decoys to aid in their goals. Director Aaron Schneider brings a dizzying amount of white knuckle tension. Occasionally he will pan across the ocean to reveal how it has devolved into a battlefield in a matter of seconds, and a scene where Krause’s ship is nearly broadsided by a missile is one of the most heart-in-your-throat shots I've ever seen.

There is so little time for rest, the movie only slows briefly so the crew can bury their dead. The rest is Krause orchestrating their attacks and defense, while at the same time feeling the guilt, fear, and doubt over whether he’s truly up to the task. Hanks is riveting here. The film will undoubtedly face criticisms for a lack of character development, which is true in a sense because it’s more tactical and thrilling in nature, but when it comes to Krause’s tireless command, this has its emotional center. And the film has its great message that America, hopefully, can still weather any storm.

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