When you think about Tom Hanks, you usually think about him stuck on a deserted island with a volleyball or storming the beaches of Normandy. You don’t really think about him in a cowboy hat. For the longest time, the "Tom Hanks Western movie" was basically just a myth, or at least confined to the voice booth while he played Woody in Toy Story.
Then 2020 happened.
While the world was shut down, Hanks finally stepped into the dust and grit of the 1870s American frontier. The movie is called News of the World. It’s a quiet, slow-burning epic that somehow managed to slip through the cracks of mainstream pop culture, despite being absolutely stunning to look at.
Why did it take so long?
Honestly, it’s kinda weird that it took four decades for Hollywood’s most "American" actor to do a Western. Westerns are the bedrock of American cinema. You've got Wayne, Eastwood, Costner—and then there’s Tom. He’s always played the decent man in indecent times, which is the literal definition of a Western hero.
Maybe he was waiting for the right director. He found that in Paul Greengrass. These two worked together on Captain Phillips, so they already had that shorthand. Greengrass is known for shaky-cam action, but here, he slows everything down. He lets the Texas landscape breathe.
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What is News of the World actually about?
Basically, Hanks plays Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd. He’s a veteran of three wars who now travels from town to town in North Texas. His job? He reads the news. People pay ten cents to hear him read about meningitis outbreaks, new laws, and faraway wars. It’s a brilliant premise because it treats news as the only thing connecting these isolated, lonely outposts.
The plot kicks off when Kidd finds a ten-year-old girl named Johanna (played by the incredible Helena Zengel). She was captured by the Kiowa people years prior and raised as one of them. She doesn't speak English. She doesn't want to leave. Kidd, being the "dad of the world," decides he’s the one who has to return her to her biological aunt and uncle, hundreds of miles away.
It’s a road movie on horseback.
The scene that sticks with you
There’s a shootout in this movie that isn't like your typical John Wick gunplay. It’s messy. It’s terrifying. Kidd and Johanna are being hunted by three men who want to buy the girl from him. They’re pinned down on a rocky hillside.
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Kidd only has a shotgun and birdshot.
If you know anything about ballistics, birdshot is useless at a distance. The tension comes from the realization that he is outgunned and outmaneuvered. It’s a desperate, fumbling fight for survival that feels way more realistic than the "one-shot-one-kill" tropes we see in older Westerns.
The historical weight of 1870 Texas
The movie doesn't shy away from how ugly things were after the Civil War. Texas was a powder keg. You had the Union Army occupying towns, former Confederate soldiers harboring deep resentment, and the brutal displacement of Native American tribes.
News of the World captures that "unreconstructed" feeling. People are angry. They’re grieving. When Kidd reads the news, he isn't just giving information; he’s trying to provide a temporary bridge between people who want to kill each other.
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That one "Yellowstone" connection
A lot of people think News of the World is the only time Hanks has touched the genre. Not quite. If you’re a fan of the Taylor Sheridan universe, you might have spotted him in 1883.
He had a tiny, uncredited cameo in the second episode. He played General George Meade in a flashback to the Battle of Antietam. It’s a haunting scene where he sits with Tim McGraw’s character amidst a field of bodies. It lasted maybe three minutes, but it showed that Hanks has a face that just belongs in the 19th century.
Why you should watch it (and where)
Look, if you’re looking for Tombstone, this isn't it. It’s a "dad movie" in the best possible way. It’s about healing, communication, and the trauma of being caught between two cultures.
- The Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski shot this, and it looks like a series of paintings.
- The Score: James Newton Howard’s music is haunting. It’s not triumphant; it’s lonely.
- Helena Zengel: She held her own against Tom Hanks at age 12. That’s insane.
The film is currently available on most major streaming platforms for rent or purchase, and it’s frequently on Netflix in international territories.
Moving forward with the genre
If this movie piqued your interest in "literary Westerns," your next move should be reading the original novel by Paulette Jiles. It’s a quick read—only about 200 pages—but it gives you a much deeper look into Kidd’s internal monologue.
After that, check out The Searchers (1956). News of the World is essentially a modern, more empathetic response to that classic film. Comparing the two is a fascinating exercise in seeing how our perspective on the "frontier" has shifted over sixty years.