News of the World is a compelling story, is a film adaptation of the 2016 novel by Utopia resident Paulette Jiles.—two drifting souls bond for life against a backdrop of lawlessness and danger at every turn. One of the things that makes the book so gripping is Jiles’s prose. Direct and punchy, her writing uses the absolute minimum number of words necessary to get her point across. That contributes to an overall tone of practicality befitting a narrative in which characters have no time or inclination to wax poetic or overthink their emotions, when they’re just trying to survive and be loved. The way Jiles balances it all is what makes the novel so successful.
Now the teaser of upcoming film News of the World is out. In the movie, Tom Hanks is seen as a former soldier-turned-raconteur who roams around to recount interesting tales to people he crosses paths with. It is actually a few years after the end of the American Civil War. Hanks’ character, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, comes across a 10-year-old white girl who was raised by a Native American tribe called Kiowa as one of their own. He is charged to deliver the girl to her biological aunt and uncle. The two traverse the wilderness together and will face both natural and human challenges. The trailer may not reveal the plot much beyond the synopsis, but a male guardian taking charge of a female child and protecting her in hostile territories is something we have seen before. It all depends on how the characters are written and the dynamics. So far, the film looks pretty great. Paul Greengrass, who directed Tom Hanks in the brilliant Captain Phillips, is helming News of the World. The film is scheduled to hit screens in December.
