NEWS OF THE WORLD

Tom Hanks stars as Captain Kidd, a Civil War veteran who roams from town to town in 1870 Texas, reading local and national newspapers to the locals "for a dime and anyone who'll give them their time." After his first stop of the film, he soon comes across an overturned carriage that was transporting young Johanna, until the African-American in charge of her was lynched. Hanks, unable to leave the young girl by herself, takes over and makes it his mission to return the young girl to her last remaining family members. Johanna is of German descent but was kidnapped by Indians at a young age and as such, only speaks Kiowa. So for the rest of the movie, Hanks attempts to teach Johanna English, while in return Johanna tries to teach Hanks Kiowa. The film is still in its infancy before Hanks and Johanna team up and not much background is given about either character. We find out more about Hanks as the film progresses but we're never really afforded much backstory about Johanna. I wasn't invested in either character so it made it difficult to be emotionally invested when Hanks is approached by 3 locals in Dallas about buying the girl, Indian attacks, or whatever else the old west could throw at them. Better work has definitely been seen by both Hanks and director Paul Greengrass and this film was a disappointment. 5/10