Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
ThedevilChoose
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
euphoricorlando-1
I read the reviews and expected to hate this movie. Then I watched it. It was wonderful. I don't have expectations like other Americans. I have traveled overseas and seen some incredible historical places. Not everything that glitters is gold. A movie can be amazing without having the kind of Hollywood drama Americans have come to expect; no car chases and explosions and sexy criminal activity are required. A movie can be touching, weird, loving, surprising, fascinating, and gentle and still be profound. Hanks took this role because he knew the deeper story is genius. If you aren't an old soul, don't watch it. But if you love good storytelling, with a foreign culture and some rich cinematography, give this one a try. It's beautiful.
Nancy Vandesiouri
Despite the poor reviews, I really enjoyed the film; my company as well. Desperate, defeated Tom Hanks struggles to win his successful life back in Saudi Arabia. And that's where the interesting part starts. Although most scenes were filmed in Morocco, it gives the viewer a good perspective of life in this ultra conservative country for expats (and for wealthy locals). The desert, the marketing, the secret parties, the camouflaged alcohol, the foreign workers.. I don't see why most people disliked it, but I would happily watch it again.
blanche-2
The name Tom Hanks is synonymous with big budget non-CGI films with good acting. "A Hologram for the King" from 2016 stars Hanks, has some beautiful scenery, but really no point that I could see. It was based on a successful novel, and I suppose someone thought it would make a good movie.Hanks is divorced businessman Alan Clay, who goes to Saudi Arabia to seal a deal - the company he works for wants to sell a holographic teleconferencing system for a new city being built in the desert, and he is to give a demonstration to the King. He's in a financial crunch; his daughter hasn't been able to attend college, though she doesn't mind delaying it.When he arrives in Saudi Arabia, he runs into delays - the King isn't in town, and no one knows when he's supposed to show up. Clay's team is housed in a tent with poor wi-fi and has to bring food from the hotel. He can't get any answers from anybody about anything.During the time he is there, he connects with his driver Yousef (Alexander Black) and also meets a female doctor (Sarita Choudhury), who treats a large cyst in his back.The rest of the time he drinks like a fish, almost becomes involved with a Danish contractor named Hanne (Sidse Babett Knudsen), and goes on a hunt for wolves disturbing a flock of sheep with Yousef. Finally, he does meet with his point person there, and his team has food, air conditioning, and wi-fi. But there is so little time spent on the reason he's there in the film, it doesn't matter to the viewer.I guess this was supposed to be a story of Americans doing business or being in another culture, but this culture isn't even correctly represented. His involvement with a married female doctor is impossible, as is her presence alone with him in his hotel room.The story has some holes, including that the Hanks character is staying in Jeddah, but is told that the person he wants to see isn't in town -he's in Jeddah. Hello? This is a script that forgot what it was about, whatever it was about. For some reason the book was well-received. Didn't make a good film, even if it did star Tom Hanks.
Rick Wingender
The only reason I chose to watch this was because it featured Tom Hanks and I needed to fill an hour and a half while on the treadmill. The plot is boring beyond belief. If this movie has any purpose at all, it is merely to show how stupid westerners can be when traveling to vastly different cultures. It's hard to feel sorry for Americans who get captured while hiking in Iran because they thought it would be cool, or an American dimwit student who steals a poster in North Korea and gets sentenced to 15 years at hard labor. Similarly, it was hard for me to feel sorry for Hanks' character, who must have experienced 20 such moments in this film. Other than these lessons, I don't think the film had any redeeming qualities, and it certainly was not funny at all.
