A solid new Western from the talented director, Paul Greengrass, and his durable star, Tom Hanks.
News of the World
Go to a theater on Christmas Day to enjoy an old-fashioned Western, a parable for our “troubling times” as much as it is a picture of 1870 post-Civil War. News of the World, showing traces of John Ford’s The Searchers, tells in melodramatic tones of a widowed, retired Civil War veteran, Captain Jeffrey Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks), escorting an orphan, Johanna (Helena Zengel—watch for her as a new star), home to small-town Texas.
Because unreconstructed Texas considers the war a “late unpleasantness,” there are some bad hombres who will not like seeing a Kiowa orphan on their home turf. Although she is of German descent, she has been brought up Kiowa and now brought back by “Blue Bellies” (federal troops) to be taken home by the retired captain.
As beautiful as the New Mexico backdrop is, and the ubiquitous drone shots amply show it, the real story is a pleasant two-hander, its outcome easy to guess. Kidd initially wants the troops to return her but ends up taking her himself. You can take it from there.
The travails of homeless persons everywhere and anytime are embodied in Kidd and Johanna, from mercenaries who want this promising young girl, to relatives that would tie up this coltish girl to keep her in line. Meantime, the captain struggles against becoming attached to her. It’s no stretch to think of immigrants separated from their children or minorities tortured for being different in our own time.
The allegory also encompasses current dictatorial leaders who deny the advancement of minorities. But the big winner of this oater is the free press, newspapers read by the Captain to gatherings of “low information voters” in towns with one paper like the Carthage Banner or The Clifton Record. While reading, The Captain might feature articles that tell of rebellions against the establishment, with attendant buy-in from the audience of semi-literates.
News of the Day has Greengrass’s ability to slow down the narrative, as opposed to his Jason Bourne adventures, to enjoy the ambling bonding between the principals and the colorful characters traveling their trail. If, perchance, there is a gunfight in the rocky hills, well, that’s in the Western formula and bearable.
The real Christmas story here is the growing love between Kidd and Johanna and the eventual feeling good most Hanks’ opuses offer. Support your local cinema while enjoying a smart Western. No news with that advice.
In theaters December 25.
News of the World
Director: Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
Screenplay: Greengrass, Luke Davies, rom Paulette Jiles novel
Cast: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Helena Zengal (System Crasher)
Run Time: 1h 58 min
Rating: PG-13
By John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, who hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com