Star Rating:

A Hologram For The King

Actors: Alexander Black, Sarita Choudhury

Release Date: Friday 20th May 2016

Genre(s): Drama, Factual

Running time: US minutes

Tom Hanks' career has seen him play the Everyman. Whether it's something like Forrest Gump, The Money Pit, Cast Away, he's always managed to convey a sense that there is something believable and that we can empathise with - even on a superficial level. However, with A Hologram For The King, there's something truly off-kilter about it all.

Hanks is a failed American businessman who's on his last go-around with an IT company that sells holographic projection software. Upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, it's the classic fish-outta-water story. Hanks' character is beset with all manner of travel ailments, such as being unable to sleep, falling off chairs and the general cultural disconnect between Saudi Arabia and America. After missing his first meeting, Hanks is given a driver from the hotel - Alexander Black - who takes him out to his meeting in the ring-fenced desert where a new city will be built. Once there, he realises that it's highly unlikely that the sale will happen. However, after a medical mishap and a series of misadventures, he meets Sarita Choudhury, who plays a doctor and a separated Muslim woman who's in the process of divorcing her husband.

It's really quite strange how the narrative changes in the film; beginning as a situational comedy, transitioning into an American underdog story, before it finishes out as a romantic drama. The problem is that none of these are particularly well-realised and, to be quite honest, it's all handled very poorly. Hanks' character is aghast at the thought of the Saudis beheading people in public - even though executions are commonplace in the US. Another scene sees him jokingly call himself a freelancer for the CIA to an Arabic man who barely speaks English. That joke then escalates into a tense situation where Hank's joke is compared to an Arabic man joking that he has a bomb strapped to his chest in an airport. Not only that, the relationship that develops between Hanks and his driver is one that's not convincing at all.

The only saving grace, as such, is the relationship that develops between Hanks and Choudhury. That, in and of itself, should have been the focus of the film. There is a great sense of warmth and genuine chemistry between them and it's heartening to see a relationship develop on-screen that doesn't fit the usual bland tropes of what we're used to it. That being said, it's not enough to save what is essentially a horrendously boring film. We're not really rooting for Hanks' character, why would we? He's just a failed businessman who's out in the middle of Saudi Arabia, trying to win back his confidence after he sold out his company to make a bigger profit. The story is too small and pedestrian to suck you in and the performances, right around the table, aren't large or memorable enough to keep you invested.

Tykwer's direction is interesting, however. There are a number of visual flourishes that are put to good use, particularly how Hanks' memories are addressed. However, the pacing of the story and the plodding, uninteresting script - which Tykwer adapted from Dave Eggers' novel - isn't enough to keep the film above the water.By the time A Hologram For The King rolls into the final act, we're really just treading water. The story ends on a completely flat note, with nothing really to show for what came before - other than Hanks has now acclimated himself to Saudi Arabia.

Again, that in itself begs, the question - who cares?