NEWS OF THE WORLD

Tom Hanks     Helena Zengal

     I love beautiful stories, and this is one.  Just as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks) keeps his audiences transfixed with his “news of the world”, I stayed entranced throughout the odd journey of this grieving ex-soldier and a 10 year-old German girl, Johanna (Zengal), brought up by the Kiowa Indians for four years after they killed her parents. The child almost literally falls into his lap and it’s up to him to get her to her only relatives, a maternal aunt and uncle, in Castroville.  This is in Texas wild country just after the Civil War, and when they set out on a six-day trip in a makeshift wagon and two horses, who knows what they will encounter?

     It turns out there is a lot, of course, the most creepy being a sleaze who thinks he can buy the girl off the Captain, and it takes a gun battle out on the hilly desert to dissuade him.  But there will be more challenges before they reach their destination, and Johanna has a chance to prove her worth several times in quick-witted action.

     Director and co-writer (with Luke Davies) Paul Greengrass bases the story on a novel written by Paulette Jiles.  As with his other movies as writer and director (United 93 and the Jason Bourne movies), Greengrass has proven his mettle as a storyteller whose pacing of the action allows for greater suspense and emotional expression.  At one point when the two travelers pass by the wrecked settlement that used to be her home, Johanna stops and proceeds to go into her old house, where she finds an abandoned doll.  When she brings it out to the patiently waiting Captain, his advice is to forget the horror and develop new memories.  The wise little girl replies, “First, you must remember.”  

     The two actors are entirely in sync with one another throughout the story. Their faces eloquently express so much without their saying anything.  We’ve seen that in his numerous roles during Tom Hanks’ long, successful career.  To observe it in young Helena Zengal, is almost mind-blowing.  Since Johanna speaks Kiowa and doesn’t know English, there is little dialog between them, hence their reliance on nonverbal language to communicate practically and emotionally.

     They are aided in this task by award-winning artists, musician James Newton Howard and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, who express the varying moods and visual expanse of a well-told story.  

 

News of the World gives us a jewel at the end of this frightful year; it will engage you, inspire you, and renew your faith in those trying their best to do the right thing.

 

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

 

JASON BOURNE

Matt Damon   Tommy Lee Jones   Alicia Vikander   Vincent Cassel   Riz Ahmed   Julia Stiles

          Matt Damon is back again as the unstoppable, hunted and haunted Jason Bourne.  In this journey, he is still off the grid, earning a living in physical fights.  Tommy Lee Jones is the current Director of the CIA playing his usual double-dealings with his agents.  New on the scene is Agent Heather Lee (Vikander) as a computer whiz who can spot and track targets and assets all over the world.  The terrifying, ruthless CIA asset is played by Vincent Cassel who carries a grudge toward Bourne from way back and pursues him relentlessly, impervious to the scores of bodies he leaves behind as collateral damage.

       In addition to searching for Bourne, the CIA has proposed a secret surveillance program (Iron Hand) that it desperately wants Aaron Kalloor’s technology company to agree to.  The proposal is highly relevant today in light of the U.S. Government’s recent efforts to get Apple to allow it to look at terrorists’ e-mails and search for anti-government hackers who have invaded the government and U.S. companies’ websites. The CIA wants Kalloor’s social media platform, Deep Dream, to allow it to search its posts, but Kalloor is having the same response as Apple, saying that privacy is freedom and we need to protect that.

         Bourne learns about this from Nicky Parsons (Stiles), in addition to her finding out more about his history and about his father.  She and others have pulled an Edward Snowden maneuver and gained access to the CIA’s data set about black ops. She wants him to help them bring the CIA’s operations to light.  When the Director of the CIA learns of this, he goes after Bourne and Parsons with a vengeance, sure that they intend to expose his department.  He then sends out the asset to kill them by whatever means necessary, and when that is not entirely successful, his plan gets hopelessly convoluted.

        Damon puts his all into this role as in all the previous Bourne films, and pulls off superhuman feats in planning ahead and evading the pursuers with clever strategies and all kinds of vehicles; he’s always one step ahead, startling his adversaries with his acumen.  I must say, though, that I much prefer seeing him as the quirky botanist in The Martian. Jones can play a mean, double-crossing s.o.b. easily, giving the appearance of an all-knowing father.  There is probably no better actor to play the calculating, vindictive killer than Cassel. 

         It’s refreshing to see Alicia Vikander again take on a completely different role from those she has excelled in previously, and here she comes across as extremely intelligent and accomplished, but with feminine intuitions that serve her well.  She has read Bourne’s file and thinks she has such a keen sense about his psychology that she can “bring him in” again. 

          Riz Ahmed is an up and coming actor to watch; he is winning high marks for his roles in Nightcrawler and the current television drama, “The Night of.”

Paul Greengrass directed this production of Bourne and helped write the screenplay with Christopher Rouse.  They have succeeded in making the pace fast and furious, with nerve-wracking close calls and scenes of high suspense.  I only wish the car chase and hand-to-hand combat at the end had been shortened by half.  The camera is so jumpy, it’s hard to follow the action, and it ultimately becomes simply boring.

Another Jason Bourne thriller that hits the same high points.

Grade:  C                        By Donna R. Copeland