If I was asked about my favourite actors Tom Hanks wouldn't immediately come to mind. But when I think about it I have seen and enjoyed most of his movies. At least one is on my list of all time favourites: 'Apollo 13'. (I still have a wee man-cry at the end!) He is just Tom Hanks, always there and always dependable.
I enjoyed this one about a former Confederate soldier, Captain Jefferson Kidd, who makes a living travelling from one community to another reading extracts from newspapers and broadening people's perspective on the world. The news is remarkably contemporary: epidemics, industrial disasters, dodgy politicians. And along the way he comes up against the brutality of racial prejudice, the vulnerability of children to abuse, the power of painful memories, irresponsible stewardship of the environment, intolerance of ethnic lifestyles, not to mention how the news can be controlled by dubiously motivated individuals.
The news of his world and ours?
It might sound grim but without floating any spoilers goodness, kindness and love still find a way.
