ReelBob: ‘News of the World’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) makes his living traveling from town to town reading the news from around the state, the nation and the world to Texas residents in 1870 during Reconstruction.
Kidd, like most Southerners, chafes under the occupation of the South by Northern troops, because they are sometimes heavy handed in their dealings with their former foes.
Kidd, though, is a quiet, level-headed individual who obeys the restrictions levied upon the former Confederacy. He carries his loyalty oath at all times, and his only weapon is a scatter-gun that shoots bird seed.
This is the setting for “News of the World,” a Western directed and co-written by Paul Greengrass, that echoes the divides within the United States that resonate today.
Kidd is a solitary figure, traveling the dusty trails, keeping his head down to avoid confrontations.
He is a righteous individual, mourning his wife who died of an illness while he was away at war. He is guilt-ridden that he was not by her side when she passed.
You can see the weight of that burden in his demeanor and, at times, hear it in his voice.
Kidd’s structured existence is disrupted when he comes upon an overturned wagon. Near it, dangling from a tree is a black man who has been lynched. And lurking in the nearby brush is a young, white girl.
He gently coaxes her to come to him. From papers found in the wagon, he learns her name is Johanna, she is 10 years old and, after her parents were killed several years earlier by the Kiowa people, she was adopted by members of the tribe. When Army troops attacked the Kiowa village, her adopted parents were among the casualties, and she was “rescued.”
The lynched man was returning Johanna to relatives in southwest Texas, about 400 miles away.
Kidd takes the girl with him to the nearest town where an Army officer tells him that the local Indian agent is away for three months, so Kidd will have to take her home.
The bulk of “News of the World” follows the journey — physical and emotional — of Kidd and Johanna, who does not speak any English, as they begin to slowly communicate and learn about each other.
They face perils along the way, but, for the most part, “News of the World” is meditative and character driven.
At a couple of ticks under two hours, the film, like the journey, is a series of starts and stops. The movie is an examination of how people, who believe they are being oppressed, morally decline.
Kidd sees his calling of reading to people about the problems and events outside their own spheres as a way to rekindle a spark of belonging to a greater good as well as reintroducing them to a semblance of civilization.
“News of the World” is an odyssey of connection and remembering. Kidd slowly wins Johanna’s confidence, teaching her English and stirring her mind to help her recall her real roots.
Hanks gives his usual sturdy and understated performance. By this time in his career, his gravitas is so built-in that you take it for granted. Hanks allows you in; you feel the pain and regret he carries.
But, when necessary, he can unleash the soldier he once was to defend himself and Johanna.
As Johanna, Helena Zengel captures your heart. At first, she is feral and unpredictable. You sympathize with her plight. At 10, she has been orphaned twice. Her sense of home and family rests with the Kiowa people.
Early on, she is resistant about returning to her living relatives, but as she and Kidd grow closer, she forms an emotional attachment to her new protector that supersedes everything else.
“News of the World” is unevenly paced; at times it is wearisome. The main spark is the one-on-one moments between Kidd and Johanna as they teach each other.
Yet, this movie resonates with you not so much because of its story, but of what it says about a country that finds it difficult to reconcile to all of us as one people — and how some will continue fanning the flames of division.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
NEWS OF THE WORLD
3 stars out of 4
(PG-13), graphic violence, language, thematic material