News of the World (2020)

Director: Paul Greengrass
Stars: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Tom Astor
Runtime: 118 minutes

Synopsis: A Civil War veteran agrees to deliver a girl, taken by the Kiowa people years ago, to her aunt and uncle, against her will. They travel hundreds of miles and face grave dangers as they search for a place that either can call home.

Verdict: When a veteran stumbles across a little girl who doesn’t speak a word of English, he makes it his mission to deliver her to a safe place, even if that means traveling hundreds of miles to reach his destination.

No, it’s not the plot of “Logan” I’m describing to you, but Paul Greengrass’ latest western “News of the World”. But while it is very clear that the two share many similarities, there is no denying that Hugh Jackman’s last hoorah as Wolverine is the superior road trip set in a western background.

Starring Tom Hanks as Tom Hanks with a southern accent and the young Helena Zengel, whose on-screen presence was an impressive one to say the least, the film’s biggest liability has got to be its weak narrative. Aside from the usual clichés that this genre usually brings, the characters didn’t give us much to work with and I had a hard time caring about them or their relationship as a result. I also didn’t like the fact that Zengel’s lines were subtitled despite Hanks’ inability to understand what she was saying. This decision created an unnecessary lack of focus in perspective and diluted one of the conflicts faced by the protagonist. Speaking of conflicts, another thing that bothered me was the inorganic way they were introduced to the story. Many appeared out of thin air only to bring some spice to a trip that otherwise would’ve been uninteresting, but none had a proper setup or even a proper purpose.

“News of the World” is competently made, I’ll give it that, but is otherwise unexciting in every possible way. I don’t regret watching it, but odds are that I’ll forget I ever watched it in a few weeks.  

FINAL GRADE: 5/10