Saturday, April 30, 2016

MOVIE REVIEW - A Hologam For A King

This is the season seemingly for the small Indy movies to shine a the theaters. The big blockbusters are on the way, and these will be pushed out in a few weeks.

Tom Hanks stars in this charming little movie that dares to take us to places we seldom get to go to in the movies.  It takes us to the depths of Saudi Arabia, in its culture and in its actual environment.  This is based on a strange novel about a man who finds himself deep inside mid-life crisis, and needs a complete reinvention, although he seems to be the last one to know that.

Hanks plays a lifelong salesman who is going through a horrible divorce to a terrible woman, and has a 21 year-old daughter.  He has made a ton of mistakes along he way in all avenues of his life.  He gets a new job that takes him to Saudi Arabia where he is in charge of selling a huge new tech package to the Saudi King.  He thinks he's there to do a job, but what he's really there for is to start again, a complete reinvention in total.

This is a little, tidy movie event that checks in at about 85 minutes.  It's quick and to the point, and lets Hanks shine through.  He anchors a real nice cast, and gives this very strange little story the wings it needed.  I always score movies high that have a story you have not seen before, and that is this movie. A unique story with a nice cast, set in an area you have not been before.  This is not for everyone, as this is a movie goers movie. This is not typical Hanks, this is smaller and more focused to a specific kind a viewer.

A Hologram For A King.  Solid, not great but quite good. 

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