News Of The World Movie Review

Good But Slow

I just saw News Of The World and yeah, I know I'm late to the party on this one but I haven't had much of a chance to see this one. 

News Of The World follows a man named Captain Kidd (Tom Hanks) as he travels across the West reading the news to people. He comes across a lonely girl named Johanna (Helena Zengel) as she is supposed to be brought to her surviving family down in Texas. She doesn't speak English and has been living with the Kiowa. Captain Kidd finds her with some papers saying that she is to be brought to some family down in Texas, and he takes it upon himself to see her there.

This was a good movie, not great, but good. I think I had my exceptions a little high going into this one. The actors did fine. The technical side of News Of The World was good. But what the film was lacking was a stronger conflict. 

Tom Hanks is well, Tom Hanks. He's a good actor and does very well in the film. I have no complaints about him. I was really impressed with Helena Zengel. She did a fantastic job for such a young actress. I'm excited to see what she does in the future.

The music was a little lacking. I'm a big fan of the use of silence in film, but I do think News Of The World could have used a little more music. The color scheme was beautiful and the lighting was spot on in the best way possible. The camera work was solid as well. I would have cut maybe a shots a second or two shorter in the editing room though. Otherwise it was great.

There was conflict in the film, but there could have been some more. They introduced some interesting conflicts and antagonists in the film, but they got rid of them pretty quick. The interactions were were well done for what they were.

I think the interaction between Captain Kidd and Johanna were solid and they had a good relationship. The scenes when Captain Kidd is delivering the news were really interesting and some of my favorite scenes in the film.

Would I recommend watching News Of The World? Yeah I think I would. But I would probably recommend waiting to see it on a streaming service. It is always nice to see a new Western film, and I think News Of The World did an alright job.

final score: 3.8/5