So, most people love Tom Hanks, but I do know someone who doesn’t, and that person isn’t a Q Anon believer. See, when the pandemic caused numerous movie studios to begin to delay their film releases, a couple friends of mine made some bets over whether or not all the big releases of the year would get a new date or not. That wording was specific because there were a few instances where a movie was moved up a bit but with day-and-date streaming as an option. Anyway, the friend who bet that every movie would get a new date was reallllllly close to collecting when Tom Hanks’ Western movie News of the World came out on its original release date at the end of the calendar year. She apparently hates Tom Hanks now, though I don’t think he had anything to do with that scheduling thing.

Oh, and the movie is on HBO Max now.

Hanks stars as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a one time officer in the Confederate Army, now traveling around Reconstruction-era Texas reading newspapers for a living. He doesn’t write or report the news. He just reads it out of a series of newspapers when he stops somewhere, charging a dime for each listener. Basically, he’s not a reporter, but he could be a 19th century equivalent of an anchorman. While on his travels, he comes across a lynched man with a notice posted to the body claiming Texas is a white man’s territory, and nearby he finds a lone girl (Helena Zengel). The paperwork on her say that she is the daughter of German immigrants named Johanna. However, she doesn’t seem to speak German, instead speaking Kiowa, the language of the local Native Americans. Bureaucratic indifference and Kidd’s general concern for the girl means he’s soon the one guiding her across the state to find an aunt and uncle that should be able to take her in. Too bad the girl sees herself more as a Kiowa, having lost two sets of parents in her time.

Director Paul Greengrass is mostly known for his various Jason Bourne movies, films where everything is shot on a handheld camera and a lot of generally effective shaky camera work. There’s nothing like that in News of the World, instead aiming for something that looks more like a standard Western. There are a few shoot-outs, but for the most part, this isn’t an action movie. It’s more of a tale of survival as Kidd and Johanna (or Cicada as she may prefer) encounter problems with other people, nature, and a variety of other obstacles. The worst are easily other people, and it helps that Kidd is essentially a good man traveling through a rough land. Perhaps the least subtle is the area run by some kind of local dictator, a man who insists Kidd read only the leader’s own newsletter and who is keen on keeping his territory free of African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, and the Union government/army. It’s not the most subtle of moments, but this maybe isn’t a subtle movie.

It helps that Hanks is in the lead role. There’s a good reason he’s somewhat stereotyped as Mr. Nice Guy, and it isn’t surprising that he was the obvious choice to play Mr. Rogers. If there is someone who can traverse a hostile land while still maintaining a kind and helpful demeanor, one who stands up for what is right in a rather soft spoken way, it would be a character played by Hanks, a man who managed to maintain that calm everyman demeanor playing characters trapped in space, trapped on an island alone with a volleyball for company, and trapped in World War II. Factor in as well a number of familiar-looking character actors in supporting roles and a good turn by young Zengel, and you have a well-acted movie with a very traditional Western look to it.

I wouldn’t say the movie offered much in the way of surprises in the long run, but even when things turn violent, the movie does tend to show Kidd is capable, but not necessarily someone who wants to go that route. He doesn’t even really carry much in the way of weapons for most of the movie. Symbolically, he seems to represent the spread of civilization to the lawless settlements around Texas. By bringing the news from the outside world, he’s connecting people, and by being decent, he’s simply being the better man and providing a role model for others, and not just Johanna. Then again, it is Tom Hanks. Don’t bet against him.

Grade: A-


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