Picture it.

You’re Captain of a US Navy Destroyer.

You’ve got a handful of other destroyers to help you.

You’re protecting several dozen ships loaded with munitions, fuel, and troops.

You’re beyond the help of shore-based aircraft.

You’re on your own.

And you, your fellow escorts, and the ships you’re protecting are being hunted.

And no matter what call you make, it can be the wrong one.

Let me start by saying that Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors. The guy could do a car commercial and I’d think it’s awesome. In this Movie, Hanks plays Cmdr. Ernie Krause in command of the Fletcher class destroyer, U.S.S. Keeling.

And what I described above is exactly the situation he finds himself in.

The surpising part is I didn’t even know this movie was out there till I caught a small bit of on YouTube. That’s when I found it had been out since 2020. It’s based on C.S. Forester’s book, The Good Shepherd. They made the movie, and thanks to COVID, it never made it into the theaters.

Instead, it went to streaming which explains why I never heard of it.

I don’t want to give away too much of the story. But the actions sequences are intense and nail biting. The CGIs are great and reflect well the frightening nature of the Battle of the Atlantic. In one scene, the German U-boats are surfaced, and chasing after the convoy. The term for such a massed formation was a “Wolfpack”. You get the sense of wolves chasing helpless sheep beautifully.

In one frightening scene, a crippled U-boat surfaces and cozies right up against another destroyer. It sits there firing into the ship it’s near. The ship it’s close to can’t depress its gun enough to defend itself. And anyone coming to assist can’t fire either for fear of hitting the ship the U-Boat is near. A very unnerving place to be and the tension of the moment is palpable.

Hanks is in top form here. I haven’t read the book, but he shows Krause as a man of prayer. He’s praying going into the area haunted by the U-Boats. He prays during the battles. He gives thanks when they get out the other side. He shows a man who’s doing the very best he can. And he knows that there are instances where there is no right call.

And it does a very good job of showing logistics and things going wrong in a tactical situation. The fuel supply of the destroyers is a constant concern for Hanks. They have a limited supply of weapons. Towards the end, they’re low on depth charges, and the enemy still looks very strong.

Equipment malfunctions from ice the the wipers won’t clear to radar giving problems.

Speaking of the enemy, the German U-Boat commanders. They come up on the radio and taunt Hanks in a voice that would make Dracula cringe. This is perhaps some of the best of the man he portrays. Krause hears them. And if they bother him, he doesn’t show it.

Hanks turns in a performance that easily rivals what’s been done in the past. He reflects the loneliness and exhaustion of command well.

I got to get the book and read it.

All pictures from the movie

Photo by Madison Inouye on Pexels.com

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