Tuesday, May 3, 2016

MOVIE - Hologram for the King

R (1:30)
Limited release 4/22/16
Viewed date at El Con Monday, 5/2/16 - no one was at the movies, any of them!
RT Critic: 65   Audience:  87
Critic's Consensus:  A Hologram for the King amiably ambles through a narrative desert, saved by an oasis of a performance from the ever-dependable Tom Hanks.
Cag:  5/ Loved it
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Roadside Attractions
From the Novel by Dave Eggers

Tom Hanks

My comments:  This hasn't gotten the best of ratings, and practically no one's heard of it, so I wasn't expecting much.  But I really enjoyed this movie, other than for a few minor details.  The setting, Saudi Arabia (with its people, religion, culture etal) was fascinating...if it was depicted correctly.  The story was intriguing.  The protagonist Alan Clay, played by Tom Hanks, was a great study - his depression, anxiety, and observations about the world around him.  I particularly enjoyed his friendship with the "local guy."  And then there was the "situation" with the strange lump on his back....  So what did I not like?  All of a sudden it was the end of the story.  So much of the beginning took its time telling the story, and then - poof - it was over and done.  Voila!  Too quickly, I think....

Roger Ebert.com review here. (3 stars)

RT Summary:  Cultures collide when an American businessman (Tom Hanks) is sent to Saudi Arabia to close what he hopes will be the deal of a lifetime. Baffled by local customs and stymied by an opaque bureaucracy, he eventually finds his footing with the help of a wise-cracking taxi driver (Alexander Black) and a beautiful Saudi doctor (Sarita Choudhury).

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