The grass isn’t always greener on the other side
Introduction
It’s always a pleasure to wake up to news about a film that not only brings some high-level Hollywood talent back on the scene but also distinguishes itself from the barrage of mediocre straight-to-VOD features that plague our current locked-down era of cinema. Eight years following the nerve-wracking thriller “Captain Phillips”, veteran actor Tom Hanks and writer/director Paul Greengrass team up once again, this time allowing themselves to breathe, thanks to the more sombre and lethargic nature of their latest work: News of the World.
Story and Setting
The film is set in late 1860s Texas, only a few years after the end of the American Civil War. Tom Hanks plays Captain Kidd: a Union army vet who now travels around the state reading out the latest news from around the country to the citizens of various towns. His path crosses that of Johanna, a young foreign girl who’s lost her family and has apparently been raised by native Americans. Despite difficulties in communication and a certain reluctance from both parties, Captain Kidd is set on a journey to reconnect Johanna with her lost ones.
Right from the start, it’s evident that what we have here is a far cry from the more fun spaghetti-westerns, instead inviting us to sit down for a quiet meditative stroll across the Old West. In the simplest of terms, News of the World is a road-trip drama. The story leads us across various deserted landscapes, small towns, and into various treacherous encounters that our protagonists need to overcome. The locations chosen for the shots in this film are breath-taking, drawing considerably from western cinematography tropes, though sparingly and hitting the mark when presented. From wide landscape shots of rural towns, deserts and dense shrubbery, to tight close-ups of tense cowboys ready to draw their revolvers, the film is a delight for viewers with an eye for these things.
If you’re expecting some good old western action, you’ll be sorely disappointed. However, this movie is not pretending to be that: what we have here is a very introspective experience with a somewhat minimal plot. Instead of relying on a complex story, the film makes room for its presentation and setting to carry the weight of its themes. It’s clear that its redeeming quality is the subdued exploration of an era of restlessness and turmoil, when the USA was undergoing radical socio-political changes. Both visually and through the subtle world-building, these notions are ever-present and add richness and detail to the film, filling the void with its slow and quiet pace.
Although News of the World doesn’t hit many old-west genre tropes, it definitely hits ones we’ve seen countless times in road-trip stories. I couldn’t help feeling like I’ve seen this film before at least half a dozen times, and sadly, the competency of its other facets didn’t do a good enough job of taking my attention off that niggling realization. From beginning to end, nothing about the story really surprised me. Unfortunately, as a strong believer of plot being the backbone of any film, this really comes at a detriment to the entire experience.
Characters and Performances
It goes without saying that Tom Hanks is really the shining talent here. With his face plastered on every piece of advertising, and most of the film’s shots centring on his weather-torn bearded presence, I was reminded once again that – not only Tom Hanks is ageing – but that he is an absolute gem of a classic Hollywood star that we should be happy is still going strong today.
After the bafflingly pointless Greyhound, it’s good to see him in a film of a certain calibre that is almost a love letter to Hanks as a seasoned actor. He plays the role of Captain Kidd brilliantly. Even though there is very little to his backstory, we can almost read it in his eyes, his voice, and the way he slowly lumps around the old western towns interacting with various characters. He’s obviously old and tired, not only from being an army veteran, but also because of the constant traveling required by his job.
Captain Kidd is evidently a sophisticated person who’s passionate about his humble work. Whether this provokes good or bad reactions from listeners, he is there to take the cheers and yells alike. In fact, although Kidd is generally a sluggish old labrador of a man, he still does have strength left in him from his army days and the film fortunately does have one or two moments in which it shines.
The character of Johanna is played by newcomer child actress Helena Zengel. Giving starring roles to child actors is often concerning, since they are generally untested and poor acting can be the death knell of any production. Fortunately, Zengel proves herself talented and really manages to carry the performance throughout, believingly conveying a wide variety of extreme emotions.
The character itself, on the other hand, is just as barebone as Captain Kidd (if not even more so). Much is left to the imagination, but she often feels like a side-character just following Tom Hanks around the place. The fact that they can barely communicate with each other doesn’t help their chemistry, even though the film tries to do that in a few different ways. There are a few cute moments between the two, but it is a far cry from interactions like John Connor and the T-1000 in Terminator 2.
The rest of the cast is composed of a few familiar faces, none of them appearing for more than a few scenes. This fact tightens up the focus on our two leads, demoting others to simple one-off interactions who act more as extra flavour to the story world and have little impact on the overall narrative.
Conclusion
All I’ve really gathered from this experience is that Tom Hanks proves to still be one of Hollywood’s best actors and automatically raises the quality of anything he stars in. The film itself, however, is really nothing new. There is a mind-numbing sense of familiarity with the plot that really doesn’t do any favours to its laid-back approach. Fans of more realistic westerns, or even people who are interested in its historical setting, will most likely get something out of the experience. However, to me, it just felt like writer/director Greengrass wanted to take a break from the action but instead of actually resting, he decided to make a film as somewhat of a meditation exercise in itself. It has no real staying power, and despite having Tom Hanks, I will most likely forget about it one month from now.
