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Sometimes you have to change your scenery to change your life.
The opening lines, crisp and surprising, give us an inkling of the kind of man we’re going to meet. An everyman—Hank’s specialty—on the wrong side of the right age, who has tried to do the right thing, but has had his share of disenchantment and disappointment. Unlike Hank’s life, Clay’s life hasn’t been all one success after another. No champagne toasts for him these days. I could be wrong. What do you think?
“Alan Clay woke up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was May 30, 2010. He had spent two days on planes to get there.
In Nairobi he had met a woman. They sat next to each other while they waited for their flights. She was tall, curvy with tiny gold earrings. She had ruddy skin and a lilting voice. Alan liked her more than many of the people in his life, people he saw every day. She said she lived in upstate New York. Not that far away from his home in suburban Boston,
If he had courage he would have found a way to spend more time with her. But instead he got on his flight, and he flew to Riyadh and then on to Jeddah. A man picked him up at the airport and drove him to the Hilton.”
Let’s watch the trailer...
Great opening, right? The lyrics from Talking Head’s Once in a Lifetime seem especially apt, the visuals are striking and the story seems, dare I say it, fresh. Sarita Choudhury, as the doctor Hanks gets involved with, is a familiar face to any Homeland fan and while the cast includes Tom Skerrit and Ben Whishaw, we also see some middle eastern looking types playing middle eastern types. A refreshing change. The taxi-driver slash guide is Alexander Black whose only other credit is a television series 30, Debt-free and Far From Happy.
A Hologram for the King is directed by Tom Twyker who Hanks worked with on Cloud Atlas.
Have you read the book? What did you think? I’m adding the poster and the release date to this year’s guide to Movies Based on Books.