Review: 'News of the World' lets Tom Hanks take us across the Old West for a journey of regrets and renewal

There are few pleasures in moviegoing — even if “going” is only to the couch — that are as pure as watching Tom Hanks. The embodiment of America’s moral compass, Hanks is never better than when he’s burrowing into a meaty role, as he does as a war-weary traveler in the soulful Western drama “News of the World.”

Hanks plays Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a former Confederate officer who now — now being 1870 — journeys from town to town across Texas, reading stories from the out-of-town newspapers to audiences. Those crowds, for a dime apiece, learn from Kidd about floods a few counties over, the discussions of the state legislature, or heartwarming stories from such far-off lands as Pennsylvania.

Read the full review at sltrib.com.