News of the World seems like an unlikely film to me… what exactly does a Tom Hanks western even look like? Or a western about traveling the West and reading the news to townsfolk? I think what the film is about is a little muddled and swings wildly from classic western tropes to unique and original ideas.

Tom Hanks plays a Civil War vet who travels around Texas reporting the news to the towns when he runs across a white girl who only speaks a Native American dialect. She was being transported to her only known family after being “rescued” from the tribe that had originally killed her family and kidnapped her. The majority of the movie is their travels as they face dangers of the frontier and learn to trust one another.

But, yes, I’m a little mixed on what its themes and ideas were. I’m not sure why he reads the news to people as a job and if that means anything thematically. It must… it’s the title of the movie. But that seems at odds with the heart of the movie – the father/daughter-like relationship. And both of those are at odds with some standard Western movie shootouts and dangers. Some good action scenes, to be fair… though themselves at odds with the dramatic conclusion to the film which is more personal, thoughtful, and slow.

But it’s also ultimately a movie about Tom Hanks – a goddamn national treasure – spending two hours being fatherly to an angry, anxious, confused little girl. I liked both of them, especially their various scenes of communicating and working together. And the action set pieces were good but didn’t really add much to the heart of the movie.

So it’s ultimately a pretty good film where the various parts work on their own but don’t mesh well together. Still it’s worth seeing, especially if you like unique westerns and Tom Hanks films. And who doesn’t like Tom Hanks??!

Score: 83