Tom Hanks charms, Helena Zengel stuns, but the drama in 'News of the World' never hits boiling point

• "News of the World" is a charming Tom Hanks movie directed by Paul Greengrass.
• The western movie follows a travelling newsreader trying to find a lost young girl a home.
• Helena Zengel gives a performance beyond her years, but the movie feels familiar and predictable.

Paul Greengrass and Hanks reunite for "News of the World," but don't expect another feature like "Captain Phillips" that will leave your seat's armrests with indents of your fingernails.

"News of the World" takes places in 1870, five years after the end of the American civil war, and follows Tom Hanks as Captain Kidd, a travelling newsreader. The Captain comes across Johanna (Helena Zengel), a stranded young German girl who was raised by Native Americans, and resolves to find her a home.

The movie is a charming western tale that features two superb performances from veteran Hanks and newcomer Zengel, with the latter in with a strong chance of an Oscar nomination.

But while there is much to like about this lovely story, the movie feels familiar and devoid of any real stakes or suspension.

Why you should care: Hanks and Greengrass previously collaborated on "Captain Phillips"

In 2013, director Paul Greengrass and actor Tom Hanks teamed up to deliver "Captain Phillips" - one of the most riveting and suspense-filled movies of the decade.

Any Tom Hanks movie is worth watching, but this is especially exciting considering the strength of his and Greengrass' previous collaboration.

"News of the World" is also tipped to be nominated for quite a few prizes during this year's awards season, and has already racked up two Golden Globes bids and two SAG awards bids. Zengel was nominated at both, for supporting actress.

What's hot: Helena Zengel introduces herself with a performance beyond her years

The young German actress gives a mature and restrained performance beyond her years. What's even more impressive is that her role is almost entirely mute, so Zengel manages to convey everything with only her expressions and physicality. Her character is really the soul of the movie, and she carries the responsibility well. It wouldn't be a surprise to see her nominated for an Academy Award if the current awards season pattern continues.

Hanks is also reliably good, though this performance is not one of his most stretching - nor is it quite as affecting as his Oscar-nominated supporting turn as Mr. Rogers in last year's "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood."

As a travellings newsreader, Hanks' Captain Kidd reads the newspapers to large crowds and these are the movie's strongest moments. When he's reading the news, Kidd performs them like monologues rather than simply reeling off the week's events, and Hanks gives these scenes a Shakespearean weight to them, full of wit and drama.

In a clever nod to 21st-century issues of fake news, one of the scenes involves a dictator-like camp leader that demands Kidd reads news of his own selection that benefits his own cause, rather than the legitimate news from papers. Greengrass clearly wanted to draw parallels from today's society with his depiction of a divided America in 1870, and it works well.

The movie looks (cinematographer Dariusz Wolski) and sounds (composer James Newton Howard) quite spectacular too - it looks and feels like a true western. The central story is a familiar one - someone forced to look after a stranded stranger in an odd-couple sort of tale, but it feels genuine and heartfelt if not familiar.

What's not: CGI and action set pieces feel out of place

While the news reading scenes are the movie's strongest, some of the bigger action set pieces feel weightless. The stakes are never that high and the tension never feels completely genuine - it's never really in doubt what's going to happen, unlike in "Captain Phillips," a masterclass in tension and suspense. Even a brilliantly filmed cat and mouse shootout with an adversary felt like an obstacle that Kidd and Johanna were certainly going to overcome rather than a life-or-death situation. The movie is happy to quietly mosey on rather than dart and dash with any real frenetic drama.

The CGI that only sporadically comes up in these set pieces also feel completely out of place in the otherwise tangible feel of the movie. They feel like bits of blockbuster shoved into a film that is really just a small-scale indie story, and they weren't needed.

The bottom line: A well-made, lovely movie to watch that doesn't quite reach 5 star standards

"News of the World" is a nice Netflix flick to put in for a lockdown movie-night, although it would look and feel spectacular on the big screen. However, the trailer sells the movie as a thrilling, bombastic, action-filled western. It's not that sort of movie at all.

Instead, this is one of the quietest entries in Greengrass' filmographies. This is a stripped-back, charming western tale that is really about stories and the power they have over us and other people.

This is a great movie to watch and enjoy with family, but its slight narrative and bare-bones nature means the impression it leaves isn't as lasting or important as it could have been.

Grade: B

"News of the World" is out on Netflix on Wednesday, February 10.

Watch the trailer below: