A Hologram for the King (2016) – Review

A new movie starring Tom Hanks usually is an event. Through the years the man has earned his stripes and that means he’s usually in great movies. Still this movie kind of crept under the radar. Should that have been different?

Alan is a salesman and his newest assignment is to travel to Saudi Arabia to sell a holographic system to the king. In the middle of the desert impressive new projects are developed and Alan not only has to get rid of his jet lag, but also learn quickly about the local way of doing business in order to be successful. During his stay he meets a driver who checks his car every time before he starts it as he fears it being wired with a bomb because he is in love with a married woman. When Alan discovers a strange bump on his back he meets a female doctor, which quickly becomes something others talk about because of the strict rules about how men and women should deal with each other. In a world he doesn´t know he doesn´t only need to find his footing, but also reach certain goals.

 Tom Hanks easily shows that the frustrations his character is going through (I wouldn’t expect anything else from him) and thanks to strong supporting roles by both Sarita Choudhury and Alexander Black the movie never gets boring, but unfortunately the story sometimes feels as empty as the apartments which are being built in the desert. Although the film is set in Saudi Arabia, most of it was shot in Morocco. Despite A Hologram for the King being set in a place we rarely see in movies it just stands out too little to be able to call this a really good Tom Hanks movie.