Popular reviews

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  Review by Lucy ★★★ 15

  more than anything this reminded me that i still need to finish red dead redemption 2

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  Review by Nakul ★★★ 1

  News of the World is a competently made, old-fashioned western road movie. It's predictable, you know where it is going but the subtle & graceful performance of Tom Hanks and the chemistry between him and Helena Zengel is what makes it work. It is Paul Greengrass' most visually striking & heartfelt film without being showy. James Newton Howard’s score was lovely. It's surprisingly timely movie too (the movie opens and ends with mention of meningitis/cholera virus outbreak and the spread of ‘fake news’ being a significant plot point).

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  Review by john ★★½ 1

  I kind of get why this is doing so well this award season. Watching Tom Hanks for two hours is always a treat. Watching Tom Hanks protect a child with his life is even better.

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  Review by David Chen ★★★★ 2

  Tom Hanks was hosting daily news podcasts 150 years before it was cool.

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★ 6

  Known for the visceral, “shaky-cam” immediacy of a vérité style that’s proven bracingly chaotic in some movies (“Captain Phillips,” “United 93”) and utterly nauseating in others (“The Green Zone”), director Paul Greengrass might seem ill-suited to direct a Western — to work in that most sweeping and stoic of American genres. But “News of the World” isn’t much interested in telling a story about the way this country tends to burnish its bloodiest chapters into myth.

  Adapted from Paulette Jiles’ novel of the same name, this weary and unvarnished road trip through Reconstruction-era Texas tells the story of two lost souls who are struggling to free themselves from their memories and find a way to become whole in a dusty…

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  Review by matt lynch ★★½

  I see this relatively patient, clearly well-intentioned, handsomely-mounted story about reconciliation and reunification and forgiveness coming away from remarkable and ongoing trauma and division, of learning from past transgressions to move on from them, of busted capitalism (Hanx literally uses money as ammunition at one point), and so help me it's been a long time since I mined any intrinsic value from that sort of timeliness. The scene where he flips the crowd by reading the inspiring story of a coal fire just seems hopelessly naive.

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  Review by MK ★★★½ 2

  This western by Paul Greengrass brings nothing new to the table but it's a slow burner adventure with another great performance by Tom Hanks.

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  Review by Sam Meltzer ★★★ 12

  A gorgeously shot, interestingly directed and fairly intense western, News of the World surprised me. Now, I don’t think this movie is exactly amazing or groundbreaking but it was sweet and did what it was trying to. The cinematography is absolutely stunning providing a clean and organized look on top of its gorgeous and intricate locations. Paul Greengrass really understands how to direct a movie, and especially knows how to utilize lighting perfectly. The sound design and editing are also very immersive and well done. Both Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel deliver fresh and compelling performances that strongly support the narrative. It definitely has some repetitive moments but I enjoyed it quite a bit, it’s a movie that feels really hard to truly hate. Glad to see a film reminiscing over classic westerns work.

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  Review by Ryan Daniel ★★★½

  This is a movie that seems like it shouldn’t be as entertaining and fun to watch as it is, but Paul Greengrass directed the hell out of it. I love the style he went for, it’s very reminiscent of classic Westerns but adds a lot of extra flare. That, in addition to the really impressive cinematography and production design make this one of the most visually appealing Westerns I have ever seen.

  There’s also the plus of seeing Tom Hanks in prime Dad mode, borderline Grandpa mode (and it suits him very well).

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  Review by Two Cineasts ★★★½ 5

  Film reviews in 22 sentences (or less)
  Today: News from the World

  "To move forward you must first remember."
  (Helena Zengel as Johanna)

  Hi everybody, Paul Greengrass with his amazing original Bourne Trilogy and Tom Hanks, his amazing filmography, talent, charisma, are absolutely favorites of us, but it was Helena Zengel who immediately made us interested in this 19th-century Western, based on the book of the same name. Her performance in the social drama System Crasher was, even if you don't consider the young age, breathtaking, literally, she delivered such a painful, raw, magnetic and visceral execution of a sadly realistic, and not as uncommon as we would wish in our society, situation of a child who is not fitting…

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  Review by Muriel 10

  unrelated but my dad was finally able to come back home after a year of not seeing him because of corona travel restrictions so of course we had to follow tradition and watch the newest tom hanks movie out there since he's kind of a national treasure in our household. it might because i'm super happy he's back and i get to watch dad movies with him again, but this was actually so sweet even for me a person that normally hates westerns, what a nice surprise!

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  Review by Matt Neglia ★★★½ 1

  NEWS OF THE WORLD is a handsomely mounted western with gorgeous visuals & a haunting soundscape. However, the latest collaboration between Tom Hanks & Paul Greengrass falls short narratively in terms of momentum & execution compared to their work on “Captain Phillips.” Helena Zengel impresses while Hanks is solid as always. This may not be making headlines all over the world but still good regardless.