News of the World

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. (10/02/2021)

More was probably expected from a Paul Greengrass/Tom Hanks collaboration. For me, it's a an unnecessary and uninteresting film that didn't bring anything new. It's shot well, acted well (Helena Zengel, after System Crasher, proves once again that she is on an excellent path). The stumbling block for me is the story, did Greengrass really have to choose such an uninteresting subject? Watching a traveling journalist in the Wild West is probably the most boring option available. It lacks action, emotion, drive, and tension – everything I like basically. Weak three stars for Hanks. Story***, Action*, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment**, Music***, Visuals***, Atmosphere***, Tension**. 5/10. (15/01/2021)

This tranquil western road movie may not have a substantial dramatic plot, but it does have a humanistic heart. Simply Hanks. Its aim is to again show the slightly different corners and characters of the old American West and its code of justice and hardships in a more realistic way than Costner’s The Postman :-). But Greegrasse’s touch isn’t very apparent in it. Did she really direct it? James N. Howard’s return to the genre is nice, but due to the film’s minimalist approach, we can’t fully enjoy it until the closing credits. (22/01/2021)

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. (25/04/2021)

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% (15/01/2021)