Tom Hanks as captain for the fourth time in 8 years

"News of the World" ... a simple story, a professional director and a charismatic star

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"News of the World" is an adaptation of a novel with the same title by Paulette Giles published in 2016, on a road trip in the American West in the late 19th century. The film is classified "Western", but the focus is not so much on classification as it is on the relationship between its heroes, but rather the classification serves The movie is only a background in this case, since there aren't many elements that the movie needs to classify Western as required.

The relationship here is paternalistic between Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) and 10-year-old Johanna (German child Helena Zengel).

The relationship between them begins with a kind of commitment, and develops to become deeper in the form of the company of a father and his daughter, the beating heart of the story.

The stardom of Tom Hanks, a noble actor with a very good reputation and who can embody an ordinary man without being overshadowed by his stardom creates a direct connection between the character and the viewer, and distances from his character any hidden or malicious intentions towards Johanna.

In other words, you are watching the movie and 100% sure Jefferson will not harm Johanna.

In 1870 in Texas, the English director Paul Greengrass - in his second film with Hanks - known for his fine construction of scenery details knew how to establish an approximate view of the American West at the time.

Kidd travels between cities to read the news for 10 cents per listener, and people get news from neighboring and faraway regions.

On one of his trips he meets Johanna, who was kidnapped in a raid that killed her parents by the Kiowa tribe of Native Americans six years ago when she was four years old.

Now the job is up to Cade because no one wants to take responsibility for getting her to her uncle and his family.

Johanna does not speak English and is not a pleasant or easy company for Kidd, because she does not know that she was kidnapped and looks at the journey to deliver her to her uncle as a kidnapping, because she only remembers her life with the Kiowa tribe.

During their trip, Kidd develops a truce relationship with Johanna

Through the truce, they form a superficial form of communication, teaching it English and the language of the Kiowa tribe.

And when they are exposed to the first dilemma of the trip as a result of three criminals chasing them in order to kidnap Johanna

And sell it, the two cooperate to survive.

The action scenes in the film are elaborately executed, but this is not a fight movie, but about this relationship between the kid of the ex-combatant in the Southern Confederate Army and the kidnapped girl.

If he had made this movie 50 years ago, in the glory days of "Cowboy" movies, it would have been the good-looking James Stewart as Kidd.

The harmony relationship between Hanks and Helena is flawless and not interchangeable, and this is one of the factors behind the film's success.

But if we look at Kidd, it's pretty much a cliché.

A former officer who was discharged from a small, defeated army, wandering around the US in a very rudimentary job, he was a former fighter, meaning that we suppose that his cruel heart melted before the innocence of a child in need of his help.

This character has been repeated dozens of times throughout Western history, which spans more than 100 years.

But in the end it is Hanks and Helena's performance that makes us lose sight of all the very familiar elements of this story.

The film is not full of action, although it is the specialty of the Greengrass director, who has developed the action category in Hollywood over the past 15 years with Jason Born movies.

Here the action scenes are full of suspense, which Greengrass improves its use, especially in the scene of the exchange of fire between Kid and the gang, in which the first resorted to climbing a nearby mountain to facilitate sniping from the top.

In another scene, Kidd falls into the captivity of a city ruler, because he does not abide by his ridiculous laws and due to his good faith as well, but he survives because of the rebellion of some elements against the ruler and because of the intervention of Johanna at the appropriate time.

These are beautiful action scenes and literally executed, but Greengrass only had two scenes, and focused on the relationship between his heroes, and if he added two other action scenes and extended the movie for 150 minutes, it would have been closer to a high-class Western saga.

This is Hanks 'second movie this year after Greyhound, which we wrote about in this space last July, which uses Hanks' enchanting presence on screen to advance the movie.

There is nothing exceptional here, but this is one of the few films with a simple story that has benefited from a professional director and charismatic star.

There is a scene of Cade and Johanna visiting her parents' home, which Greengrass filmed through a window, meaning the frame of the scene is encased in the window frame, a direct reference to an iconic scene from the famous movie The Searchers directed by legend John Ford in 1956.

This is the fourth time Hanks has played a "captain" in eight years, despite the difference in ranks and positions.

He played the character of Captain Phillips in the movie with the same title under the management of Greengrass, and Captain Sully was with Clint Eastwood, and again Captain Ernest Cross captain of the Grayhound, and here is the former officer Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd.

• Hanks is a noble actor who can embody the role of an ordinary man without being overshadowed by his stardom.

• Action scenes are full of action that Greengrass makes perfect.

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