NEWS OF THE WORLD – Review by Susan Granger

Set five years after the Civil War, Tom Hanks stars in this elegiac Western as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, who travels from town-to-town, enthralling often-illiterate audiences with stories about what’s happening in this country and abroad, charging a dime per person. It’s 1870 and the tumultuous 15th Amendment has just been ratified, extending the right to vote to all men without regard to race or previous condition of servitude.

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NEWS OF THE WORLD – Review by Diane Carson

News of the World travels in 1870 to return a kidnapped girl. The most identifiable American genre, the western, is fully realized in co-writer/director Paul Greengrass’ News of the World. But as welcome as the 1870 setting and the beautiful widescreen compositions are, the film lacks Greengrass’ usual dynamic energy. That’s surprising since News of the World reunites Greengrass with Tom Hanks who partnered to make Captain Phillips thrillingly suspenseful.

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