Directed by : Paul Greengrass

'I guess we both have demons to face, going down this road.'



Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) moves from town to town with a unique profession of reading news from across the world. He happens to accidentally come across a 10 yr old girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel) in Wichita Falls, Texas as he finds out her parents are dead and she needs to be sent to her aunt and uncle many miles away. Captain takes the responsibility as they both set on a long journey which will be full of obstacles and also result in their bonding. 

Its a premise thats done a lot, even similar to our very own 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'. Despite the predictability and very well knowing where we may be heading, its a film that delivers due to some honest good performances and the direction of Greengrass who keeps you engaged through variety of problems put forward, be it how Captain interacts with Johanna because they both can't understand their languages (she's from Kiowa community). Then the evil guys who try to snatch her away from him as she helps, and the misery doesn't end when another town guys go after them. 

What I like is the sweet bonding properly developed over time making us love that final scene even more when Captain does what we feel he should be doing for Johanna. I don't know if this is fictional or a news reading profession actually exists in real, I may be interested if so. .

The pace is the only hiccup I felt, maybe could had been more tight and trimmed by few mins. Also, it takes some time to like character of Johanna.

Another likeable performance by Tom Hanks with good support from Helena Zengel, its the journey they both follow that makes this a lovely watch.

My Rating : 7/10