News of the World (2020)

Directed by Paul Greengrass. Starring Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Michael Covino, Elizabeth Marvel, Fred Hechinger, Neil Sandilands, Thomas Francis Murphy, Winsome Brown, Ray McKinnon. [PG-13]

Several years after the end of the Civil War, Confederate veteran Hanks travels the countryside from town to town, reading newspapers for anyone who ponies up a dime. When he comes upon an “orphaned twice over” little girl (Zengel) who speaks no English, he reluctantly accepts the responsibility of taking her to distant relatives in an immigrant community. A stately sense of authenticity in behavior and milieu drives this handsomely-mounted Western, photographed with dust clouds and natural lighting and the rest for a docudrama feel (a specialty of director Greengrass, along with the frantic editing during the more “rootin’-tootin’” episodes that obscures the action), and, in spite of the revisionist angle, unafraid to quote iconic moments from old-fashioned oaters. The casting of Hanks can’t help but infuse the protagonist with undue levels of nobility (one could argue the actor had a deeper “cowboy” role when playing Woody in Toy Story), and the relationship that develops between the ex-captain and his parcel-turned-protégé feels more forced by conventional expectations than organic earnings, but the production values and unexpected relevance keep things on a relatively smooth track of interest, addressing contemporary issues like the deep-rooted divisions of a “united” nation and the distrust and attempted suppression of news. James Newton Howard supplies the appropriately plaintive score. Mare Winningham briefly shares the screen with Hanks (Hooch couldn’t make it, unfortunately).

70/100