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This Tom Hanks western drama is somewhat predictable in spots (the ultimate ending, especially) but is well done and often quite moving.
The story takes place just after the Civil War, when newspapers were scarce and a lot of people couldn't read anyway. It's about a retired military captain, Jefferson Kidd (Hanks), who is widowed and now makes his living going around reading news 'to anyone who has a dime and the time,' as he puts it. He's basically a street performer but uses news as his "act." He happens to run into this young girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel), who has witnessed a lynching, and who has been held captive in an Indian tribe since birth, apparently. She seems to have escaped (or been kidnapped, it's never revealed how she wound up where she was) and now is wanting to get "home" to relatives in Texas, and Hanks, after some hesitation, decides to take on the job of delivering her there. And of course, they run into some very hairy -- and very PG-13 -- problems along the way.
I was a little worried about it being a Paul "Mr. Shaky Cam" Greengrass movie, and it does indeed have a couple shaky moments, but he has really reined that in in his more recent movies. Or at least, he's using it sparingly and when appropriate. There's a scene where Hanks and the girl are being stalked by some bad guys in a rocky area where the technique is really effective.
Hanks gives a nice understated performance and, as usual, completely inhabits the character he's playing. It's kind of uncanny how you just never think about it being Tom Hanks when you're watching him -- he IS the guy he's playing. Not many actors can pull that off at his level of fame.
The young girl, Helena Zengel, is a real find. She hardly has any dialogue in the movie (she only speaks a Native American language she learned growing up) and the movie reminded me of "Cast Away" a few times when Hanks and Zengel had to get their points across with gestures, expressions and such. It's really well done. She should have a bright future ahead and it would be fun to see her in a role where she gets more dialogue.
The main complaint I had about the movie is it didn't really explain enough of Johanna's backstory -- a limitation brought on by the language barrier. In most of this type of movie, there are scenes where the characters talk and get to know about each other, but that never happens much in this film. Those kind of scenes often lead to some comic relief, which is also pretty much absent here. But I still liked the movie a lot and for any fan of Tom Hanks, it will not be a disappointment. 3.5 out of 5 stars from me.
The story takes place just after the Civil War, when newspapers were scarce and a lot of people couldn't read anyway. It's about a retired military captain, Jefferson Kidd (Hanks), who is widowed and now makes his living going around reading news 'to anyone who has a dime and the time,' as he puts it. He's basically a street performer but uses news as his "act." He happens to run into this young girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel), who has witnessed a lynching, and who has been held captive in an Indian tribe since birth, apparently. She seems to have escaped (or been kidnapped, it's never revealed how she wound up where she was) and now is wanting to get "home" to relatives in Texas, and Hanks, after some hesitation, decides to take on the job of delivering her there. And of course, they run into some very hairy -- and very PG-13 -- problems along the way.
I was a little worried about it being a Paul "Mr. Shaky Cam" Greengrass movie, and it does indeed have a couple shaky moments, but he has really reined that in in his more recent movies. Or at least, he's using it sparingly and when appropriate. There's a scene where Hanks and the girl are being stalked by some bad guys in a rocky area where the technique is really effective.
Hanks gives a nice understated performance and, as usual, completely inhabits the character he's playing. It's kind of uncanny how you just never think about it being Tom Hanks when you're watching him -- he IS the guy he's playing. Not many actors can pull that off at his level of fame.
The young girl, Helena Zengel, is a real find. She hardly has any dialogue in the movie (she only speaks a Native American language she learned growing up) and the movie reminded me of "Cast Away" a few times when Hanks and Zengel had to get their points across with gestures, expressions and such. It's really well done. She should have a bright future ahead and it would be fun to see her in a role where she gets more dialogue.
The main complaint I had about the movie is it didn't really explain enough of Johanna's backstory -- a limitation brought on by the language barrier. In most of this type of movie, there are scenes where the characters talk and get to know about each other, but that never happens much in this film. Those kind of scenes often lead to some comic relief, which is also pretty much absent here. But I still liked the movie a lot and for any fan of Tom Hanks, it will not be a disappointment. 3.5 out of 5 stars from me.