Released: 10th February 2021 (Worldwide Netflix)
Length: 118 Minutes
Certificate: 12A
Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel
As one of few actors who can carry an entire production on raw acting talent, Tom Hanks boasts many a hit to his name. Following a stellar collaboration in 2013’s Captain Phillips, Hanks and director Paul Greengrass have teamed up again for News of the World. Unfortunately, it’s rather disappointing as a western and as an intimate drama.
In the expanding American Frontier, former Union veteran Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks) is working as a news reader along the newly established settlements. He discovers a young girl named Johanna (Helena Zengel) on his travels and resolves to deliver her to a suitable home; this is complicated by her split between German and Native American upbringing. Along the way, they run across several individuals both savoury and unsavoury. Consistently set on their perspective, Jefferson and Johanna’s journey is mainly a character-focused affair. The biggest problem with News of the World for me is that its narrative elements don’t integrate or flow into each other. Kidd’s profession as a news reader doesn’t form the backbone of the story; instead, it’s a means to move from one location to the next and get out of some occasionally dangerous situations. The aftermath of the Civil War is also accounted for, but its thematic trappings are often left to the background; the film needed to bring a greater sense of weight from that event to garner greater sympathy for the characters. The leading actors do display a growing connection, but the plot they partake in is unable to match this.
The duo at the film’s centre is performed well enough, but you’ll find yourself searching for a stronger bond. Tom Hanks always gives his best to every project and his warm demeanour continues to shine through from start to finish. He gives it his all in the film’s final act as Jefferson reflects on his own family. Yet News of the World doesn’t go further than this; there’s nothing here from the leading actor that you wouldn’t see in other films. The same is true of Helena Zengel Again, she does a passable job as the orphaned Johanna Leonberger / Cicada. As a child displaced by conflict, Zengel represents the disconnect from the other characters very well, but the moments that really pull at the heartstrings are few and far between. The side characters are very weak, mostly entering scenes to comment on the duo’s search or create an obstacle before exiting stage right; the different elements of westward expansion are put on display, but they are often too brief to form a wider connection. The impact they could have had on Johanna in particular isn’t conveyed very effectively as the two main leads solve problems and move on.
At a contrast to its limitations in story and character, News of the World can often look breath-taking with its sweeping shots of the western landscape; there’s no doubt the film does a brilliant job of representing its setting. While the sunlit lands the characters travel through appear expansive at first glance, there’s an underlying danger that lies behind the sweeping cinematography. The film does hit a snag when it comes to action however; it isn’t overly reliant on these elements, but the cutting can be become somewhat frantic. In spite of this presentational gap, every other component is very well done. The music by James Newton Howard is especially poignant; it gets across the sense of loneliness felt by the characters and instils a feeling of tragedy. It’s an incredibly absorbing composition across the film’s two-hour runtime.
When stacked up against both genre entries and the director’s own efforts, News of the World doesn’t measure up well. Despite its capable presentation and decent leading performances, it has a hard time telling a cohesive tale and pulling its varying threads together. The likes of Hostiles and Road to Perdition do a much better job of leveraging setting and acting talent respectively.
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars (Mediocre)
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