Toward the outset of World War II, a devoutly religious but in-over-his-head Navy captain (Tom Hanks) leads a military escort of Allied ships though the North Atlantic — with a wolfpack of six Nazi U-boats hot on their tail. At a time when starring roles for middle-aged heroes are at a premium, Hanks chose to script a plum part for himself by adapting novelist C. S. Forester’s The Good Shepherd. Its Hanks’ show, and while the dialogue rings authentic — the source material was used as a text at the Naval Academy — the ancillary seamen spend most of the show in the service of shifting eyeballs. Between “Yes sirs!” and “No sirs!” second-in-command Stephen Graham displays an uncanny flair for wielding a compass while Elisabeth Shue’s five-minute appearance contributes nothing. The CG work is impressive, and considering all of the prolonged running times behind him, Hanks carefully corrals his action-packed story into 91 minutes. As for the director, Hanks left the driving to Aaron Schneider (Get Low). (2020) — Scott Marks
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