'News Of The World' is in theaters on December 25th, 2020.
Five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe.
The latest Paul Greengrass-Tom Hanks collaboration plays as their most predictable, contrived film yet. The sweeping aerial shots of the sandblasted desert and Newton’s rousing score are the grandest, most appealing aspects of the film, but the journey feels so stiffly executed that empathy or excitement fall short.
After Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) finds Johanna (not the name she prefers to go by but Kidd insists), a child held hostage by the Kiowa tribe, he sets out to deliver her back to her surviving family. Hanks’ warming effect at playing the every honorable man has worn off but Helena Zengel brings a fresh energy as his sidekick, apart from her character’s bratty stubbornness.
The film tries to accommodate too many components, from being a hybrid buddy film where the characters speak different languages, to channeling Western themes in a new way, and Kidd having left marital problems at home to share local and world news among rural communities.
Rating: 2.75 out of 5
Nicholas Ruhrkraut (Contributor) lives in New York City but is a Midwestern boy at heart. He loves discussing everything film on his podcast "Oscar Wild," cooking and baking at home, reading, and traveling.Click Here to check out Nick's Articles.