25 Dec News of the World Review

NEWS OF THE WORLD

dir. Paul Greengrass, starring Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel

A widowed Civil War veteran agrees to deliver a girl, taken by the Kiowa people years ago, to her aunt and uncle despite the girl’s wishes to remain with her captors. They travel hundreds of miles and face grave dangers as they search for a place that either can call home.

News of the World gives us Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kidd, a former Confederate soldier who now travels from town to town, collecting newspapers and redistributing country-wide and local news. I’m not sure if this was a thing that happened but I like the idea of it. Thanks to off screen events and Captain Kidd being in the right place at the right time, he comes across Johanna Leonberger, played by Helena Zengel and decides the charge is his to see this young girl returned safely to the only family she has left. The pair face a number of challenges along the way, both natural and man made, and we get to see this unlikely pair form a sort of bond during their travels. News of the World delivers little in the way or twists or surprises, it’s a fairly straightforward film that allows the viewer to just sit back and accompany these characters on the journey. The most prevalent theme of survival and perseverance are at the forefront and watching these two who have nothing in common, no shared experience, a communications barrier, and no real love for each other have to work together to overcome their obstacles is fascinating to watch.

Acting wise, this movie’s biggest strengths are its 2 lead actors. Movies like this are Tom Hanks’ bread and butter. He has a knack for picking roles where the characters are faced with steep odds and stolidly work their way to the end goal. You look at movies like Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Castaway, Road to Perdition, all movies where Tom Hanks is a man on a mission to get it done. Conversely, you have movies like The Terminal or A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood or Green Mile where Hanks really gets to the core of being a warm, gentle, understanding person. I think the role here in News of the World kind of combines those two things: he’s appointed himself this task to get done and nothing’s going to deter him and Hanks play the initial recalcitrance that turns to determination very well. Helena Zengel also puts in good work as Johanna Leonberger, a girl without a home, with barely an identity. Whereas Hanks plays the transition from reluctant to steadfast, Zengel does a great job of phasing from feral to something else. They play incredibly well off each other and seeing Helena Zengel in this makes me want to see some of her earlier German work.

As far as Paul Greengrass directing, I think this is far and away the best movie he’s done. He does a great job of showing just how expansive the United States was at this time: a lot of great shots of open, unsullied land and nature; this movie is beautiful to look at and the cinematography is outstanding. News of the World is being released theatrically, and normally I’d suggest seeing the sweeping, expansive landscape on the biggest possible screen but we’re not there yet. The general tone of the south is nailed down pretty good as well; we’re not far removed from the Civil War and Captain Kidd traverses what was once Confederate land. The surly mood of those that don’t wish to be a part of the Union, of those who suffered losses during wartime are equally balanced by the joy of Captain Kidd reading their local shenanigans to captive audiences. Greengrass does a great job balancing the tones of this movie: when we shift from a lighthearted moment to a more serious, sometimes threatening mood, it occurs naturally. Greengrass got the most of not just his two leads, but also of the unsavory types that roamed the land; the people who are in the movie with 5 minutes of screen time are doing just as much as Hanks and Zengel.

News of the World is a wonderful, syrupy sweet movie that’s going to give you the warm and fuzzies. In year where warm and fuzzy has been increasingly sparse, it’s something we can all connect with and enjoy. It’s another fine addition to the already rock solid filmography of Tom Hanks, it introduces us Americans to Helena Zengel and it’s a great feather in the cap of Paul Greengrass.

Review by Darryl Mansel