Adapted from Paulette Jiles\u2019 novel, News of the World <\/em>follows Hanks\u2019 Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a confederate Civil War veteran turned itinerant newsreader who travels across Texas reading newspaper stories to groups of paying townsfolk. On the road, he encounters a child, Johanna (Helena Zengel), who was taken by the Kiowa six years earlier after the massacre of her family, and raised by the tribe, who have now been wiped out by the government. Kidd reluctantly decides to reunite the traumatized Johanna with her remaining family. Along the way, Kidd\u2019s growing bond with the girl helps him to process his own difficult past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout News of the World<\/em>, Greengrass and co-writer Luke Davies look at the post-war frontier of Texas with an eye toward the early echoes of white entitlement and racism that exist now. These parallels are never made directly explicit, but they\u2019re there in the suffering of the black and brown individuals Kidd encounters, and attitudes of the white people. They\u2019re particularly apparent in a tyrannical settlement leader, Farley (Thomas Francis Murphy), who makes Kidd read out his independently-published propaganda rag in a command performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This moment brings up another big theme about the importance of storytelling–one that points directly (and, one has to imagine intentionally) to the power of News of the World\u2019s<\/em> cinematic medium. Kidd describes his news reading as a momentary escape for hard-working folks in need of entertainment. However, it\u2019s also a valuable service that reminds his listeners their limited experience isn\u2019t all there is. When Farley forces Kidd to read his newspaper to his lackeys, Kidd instead reads from outside publications, an action that infuriates Farley but fascinates the other men, even inspiring one to desert the settlement and set out for more inspiring pastures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than thematic resonance, however, Greengrass is concerned with playing in the genre sandbox, which he does successfully. Not only is the tone well-suited to his no-frills directing sensibilities, Greengrass is also working with a dependable team. Hanks makes a great world-weary protagonist and reluctant dad, and his energy pairs well with Zengel\u2019s enigmatic maturity. James Newton Howard turns in a dramatic, excellently styled score that complements cinematographer Dariusz Wolski\u2019s wide open panoramas of the dusty Texas plains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n News of the World<\/em> isn\u2019t shattering archetypes or blazing new revisionist trails with its story. It\u2019s straightforward, down-the-middle fare. In Greengrass and Hanks\u2019 capable hands, however, it\u2019s well-executed, hitting aesthetic hallmarks and effective story beats from the first shot to the last. It may not be instantly memorable, but it\u2019s hard to think of another movie from the last year that hits the spot so dead-on. “News of the World” is available Friday on demand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/news2-1024x576.jpg\")
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