Paul Greengrass takes a break from intense thrillers to deliver a character driven western, supported by a rising young star.
We finally find ourselves watching Tom Hanks star in a Western genre film after all these years, in a role with which he settles in to with great ease, as if he were born on the great plains themselves. However, it is his young co-star Helena Zengel that inevitably steals the show; with a moving and incredibly emotional portrayal of a young orphan girl called Johanna, who has again lost family in tragic circumstances. Adjusting the limelight ever so slightly away from Tom Hanks is no easy feat, and yet, it is done with a spectacular natural talent from someone so young. The old head of Hanks is the perfect foil for Zengel to spread her wings and soar effortlessly across the wild Texas terrain.
News of the World is so far separated from director Paul Greengrass’s usual work: high-speed chases and breath-taking thrillers such as the Jason Bourne series and Captain Phillips (the latter of which Tom Hanks also starred in), in that it is a very character driven film that is structured with the chemistry of the two leads and their Father-Daughter like relationship that builds throughout. The narrative is reminiscent of True Grit and even Jungle Book; tried and tested, the journey a paternal figure must take as he travels cross country with his naïve companion, showing them the ropes, hoping to protect themselves from deaths grasp.
Hanks plays Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, civil war veteran who travels from town-to-town reading news stories to anyone that will listen – and 10 cents per person. During his travels, he happens across the body of man in a wreckage, with it, a young orphan girl dressed in native American clothing called Johanna (or Cicada as she likes to be known). Due to nobody wanting responsibility of the minor, Kidd takes it upon himself to escort the girl across Texas, where he has been informed her last remaining relatives live. Communication is limited between the pair due to Johanna being raised by Kiowa people and not speaking the common tongue, nevertheless, they begin to form a connection and even given one another lessons in the others language. 
Whilst on their travels, they come across a multitude of shady characters, including a group of ex-confederate soldiers who have hopes of adding Johanna to their child trafficking ring, leading to a Paul Greengrass style cat and mouse chase that he has become known for, albeit with some questionable CGI boulders rolls – not for the first time that CGI effects have looked out of place in the film – something that felt very unfamiliar with the pacing the film. The duo also come across a town lead by a radical gang of militia, an opportune moment it seems for Kidd to whip up a storm with one of his rousing newspaper stories. Do they have any allies on the road, or must they take on this desperate land and its inhabitants all on their own?
News of the World is not what you expect from Paul Greengrass, it is an unvarying western that follows an age-old structuring tool of the “Father-Daughter relationship” manifesto. For Greengrass, it shows us that he can expand his repertoire to various areas of filmmaking, skills he undoubtedly has but not shown previously. The result is a very dependable film that is heavily supported by Hanks and Zengel, it is their screen presence that carries the film, and without them, the film could have fell flat on its face, turning into another slow western genre film. News of the World does give us the wonderful Helena Zengel though, who’s career will only go from strength to strength, as it deserves to do.
Available to watch on Netflix now.
No Comment.