Sailing through the seas of the shadow of death

Lockdowns, social distancing measures, and stay-at-home orders likely left many feeling a bit claustrophobic as they hunkered down at home during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also disrupted the cycle of new cinematic releases to public theaters. Among these was Greyhound, a $50.3-million war film starring box-office magnet Tom Hanks; originally scheduled for a June 2020 release by Sony Pictures, its distribution rights were purchased by AppleTV+, which offered it digitally to subscribers in mid-July.

Nearly the entire film takes place on a crowded U.S. Navy destroyer as it crosses the mid-Atlantic’s “Black Pit,” out of range of air cover, frantically defending a convoy of merchant ships from German U-boats during World War II. Greyhound might not salve your cabin fever, but the tense wartime drama will hold your attention.

Commander Ernest Krause is a prayerful man on his first wartime command and a man of conscience, too. He proves himself an excellent strategist at evading and sinking U-boats, but viewers sense his pain at having to choose between rushing to defend an attack at the convoy’s rear or picking up survivors from a burning oil tanker, and the casualties that result from his orders. Such are decisions military leaders must make — and live with — in wartime.

When the enemy appears as a distant target or a blip on a radar screen, one might forget there are human lives at risk on both sides. Krause does not. When one sailor celebrates a U-boat sinking by stating there are “fifty fewer Krauts,” Krause gently corrects him: “Fifty souls.” It’s a reminder that war, in a nutshell, involves young men killing other young men in order to settle a conflict among nations where diplomacy fails.

In war, every victory comes at a price. Krause’s demeanor reflects that reality throughout Greyhound. But as we all must with life’s struggles, Krause seeks and finds his strength in God so that he might rise to do battle another day.