Review 598: News of the World

News of the World is a wonderfully touching and intense Western and another fine directorial work from director Paul Greengrass.

Based on the novel News of the World by Paulette Jiles; In Wichita Falls, Texas, 1870, Civil War veteran Cap. Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) makes a living traveling from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents, queens, glorious fueds, devestating catastrophes and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe. He crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel), a 10-year-old girl taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Kidd then sets out to return Johanna, hostile to a world she's never experienced, to her biological aunt and uncle who are her last remaining family.

 

Directing a Western is a departure for Paul Greengrass as he's made a name for himself directing intense, gritty action films with contemporary themes.

 

At its core, News of the World is a story about two very different characters finding from common ground. It's also about what it means to read, to tell, to recite, to storytell the news which is how it ties into the title of the film. It's also about the way in which stories and language define our reality. It's about the way in which the stories that we tell define who we are.

 

Racism:

 

Exploitation: 

Paul Greengrass' direciton is  the landscapes are gorgeous, the scenery is breahtaking, the production desing (recreating Texas in 1870) is terrific, the costumes are lavish, the score by James Newton Howard is beautiful, the locations are splendid

 

Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel are  With his avuncular manner and steadfast trustworthyness, Jefferson Kyle Kidd is basically a 1870's Walter Cronkite spreading good word with a touch of theatre.

Now orphaned for the second time, she falls into the

Elizabeth Marvel, Neil Sandilands, Fred Hechinger, Thomas Francis Murphy and Bill Camp round out the films supporting cast with

Never underestimate the power of a good story friends, 4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.