Directed by:
Paul GreengrassCinematography:
Dariusz WolskiComposer:
James Newton HowardCast:
Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Neil Sandilands, Chukwudi Iwuji, Thomas Francis Murphy, Fred Hechinger, Michael Angelo Covino, Ray McKinnon, Mare Winningham (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
A Civil War veteran who travels from town to town reading the news undertakes a perilous journey across Texas to deliver an orphaned girl to a new home. (Netflix)
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Reviews (12)
A beautiful film full of important ideas. Tom Hanks can't even do it any other way, and so once again he acts great and the western environment suits him very much. Paul Greengrass kind of gave up on being Paul Greengrass and pops his head up only a few times, but that’s fine, because the story is told one hundred percent skillfully, and however much the final quarter hour can be predicted, it affected me exactly as they planned. If you (didn't) like the slightly more melancholy The Homesman with Tommy Lee Jones, expect the same from News of the World.
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News from the World skillfully combines a western road movie and an adventure drama, spiced with a dash of action. Story-wise, it is not a particularly complex film – as we travel from A to B, there is a mutual self-exploration, interspersed with a series of adventures and ending with a satisfying (if predictable) denouement. Even so, for two hours I was swept along on a nicely told tale of a spunky veteran and a vivacious girl brought together by fate. Tom Hanks guarantees a quality performance and the role of "The Captain" really suited him. The young Helena Zengel certainly didn't let herself be overshadowed by her more famous colleague and gave an equally convincing performance. As already mentioned, the film does not lack action (the chase and the shootout at the rocks), nor strong, even touching moments, like Johanna's homecoming or the reunion with the wife, and besides that it offers beautiful shots of natural scenery, which are enhanced by an unforgettable musical score.
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Yes, News of the World is certainly an interesting movie and no, it’s not a western in the strict sense of the word. Even Once Upon a Time in the West wasn’t a western proper, it was a movie that deconstructed the classic world of the tough cowboys of the wild west adding modernity at the thematic and formal levelS. Compared to it, Greengrass’s movie has an editing that gives the impression of a much faster pace than the story actually has. And although westerns mostly aim at a clear cliffhanger, while the secondary themes around the coexistence with the Indians or the railway are subordinated to the narrative, this one goes in circles that are only apparently separated by historical events (the Civil War, which may have abolished slavery, but without changing anything in the minds of the Southerners), from which the main characters try to escape – move forward. And in my opinion, this movie also pushes forward the possibility of thinking about the “Western”, which hasn’t been a strictly defined genre for a long time, as some sort of field of free expression for talented directors to add their own historical reflection and author’s formal concepts, which in this case is certainly refreshing and stimulating. It’s a film that doesn’t submit to it (like even Once Upon a Time in the West back then), but that conceptually rewrites it, and it has my full admiration. 90%
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Paul went out of his comfort zone into the prairie, where life is a circle, and you have to remember that in order to move on. A simple but beautifully constructed story, told with fluid camera strokes, that you've heard a hundred times before, but that the Hanks-Zengel duo will want to hear again and again. The film is a quiet commentary on America's brokenness and the need for kindness and acceptance of difference. It may not have any dizzying depth, but it's certainly Greengrass' most personal, intimate and moving work, and its simple goodness made me believe at times that the world isn't messed up. Hats off and I love it.
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Tom Hanks is as reliable as ever, but News of the World is easily the most boring film Paul Greengrass has directed. It feels way more sterile and far less personal than any of his other work. For such an intriguing premise, I found myself struggling to stay awake, especially in the second half. It's basically the epitome of a "Netflix standard."
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