- Rating
NEWS OF THE WORLD
The Western drama News of the Day is sometimes slow, and sometimes an intense story about discovery and survival. However, it includes the warmest and happiest ending I have seen this year. Tom Hanks (Greyhound, Sleepless in Seattle) is superb as Captain Jefferson Lyle Kidd traveling through 1870 Texas reading the local news to the town folk – a dime in the pot gets you a seat at the reading.
Plot: Captain Jefferson Lyle Kidd comes across an overturned wagon and a twelve-year-old girl dressed in Kiowan clothing (Native American). The girl, Johanna Leonberger, raised as Cicada (Helena Zengel), was captured by the Kiowan’s when they killed her parents years earlier. The Union Army is not available, so it falls upon Captain Kidd to return Johanna to her Aunt and Uncle’s farm 400 miles away.
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Traveling four hundred miles when all the roads are dirt in 1870 Northern and Eastern Texas takes weeks. News of the World could have been a simple film about the Captain trying to gain Johanna’s trust and teach her the American ways. But the typical complexities of today – greed, perversion, and racism – interfere in their travel.
Tom Hanks plays a subdued character, similar to many of his characters. But this role is quintessential Tom Hanks, enjoyable to watch. Hanks is excellent as Captain Jefferson Lyle Kidd, but he is a typical Tom Hanks, so he did not receive an Oscar nomination.
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News of the World and Nomadland are both Oscar nominatees for best cinematography. News of the World’s 1870 Texas versus Nomadland’s current Western USA setting, which one will win. The recreation of 1870 Texas is well done and looks authentic. I have never seen a cattle drive through a town; nor a wagon ride where the philosophies of Native Americans is explained by a twelve-year old. A scene that makes News of the World worth watching.
The other Oscar nomination is for Production Design and will probably go up against Mank. The 1930’s Mank world versus the 1870’s News of the World – I do not know who will win that Oscar.
The Western drama News of the World is an enjoyable and sometimes uplifting story to watch. Not bloody, more threatening, and intelligent, with a satisfying ending.
(Mank won Best Cinematography & Best Production Design in 2021)
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