Tykwer and Hanks have made a film with familiar ideas and sentimentalities, all presented in a comical, romantic, and always enjoyable package that never overreaches to achieve its significance, even amid its many metaphors.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 15, 2022

Their distance from and contempt for the restive masses make Tykwer and his ilk retreat further into themselves.

| Feb 26, 2021

Feels like two or more movies spliced together to form one whole.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 3, 2021

This adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel is another in a growing line of underwhelming English language titles with conflicting tonal shifts from Tykwer.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 30, 2020

This film is pleasant enough, but there were definitely elements that left a sour taste in my mouth. I fear that this cinema experience is going to prove forgettable, as the film was ultimately paper-thin and liable to fly away on a desert wind.

| Jul 1, 2020

...the film doesn't peter out completely, but by going down a dry, humourless "we're-all-the-same-really-kiss-me-quick" route, A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING arguably ends up a facsimile of superior films. Or a faint hologram even.

| Feb 13, 2020

An engaging, thoughtful film, bolstered by a fine lead performance from Hanks.

| Jul 26, 2019

A Hologram For The King is expressly second class, lacking depth, clarity and, most importantly, a meaningful message.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 2, 2019

It's also one of the first, if not THE first, American film I've watched that suggests that it's the West that needs the Middle East's economic influence, not the other way around.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 28, 2018

While not as bizarre as Cloud Atlas with its time and space hopping, A Hologram for the King is an unsettling piece, but enjoyably so.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 23, 2018

Compelling source material joins with a terrific performance from Tom Hanks in this film that manages a nice scale.

| Aug 23, 2018

While the film definitely flails at times, it rides on the charisma of its three central performances that each link up in a way that's surprisingly organic.

| Aug 23, 2018

I'd advise skipping the novel and going straight to the theater. The film will take up far less time, and will be a much more enjoyable experience.

| Aug 22, 2018

The fact that they were able to make a comedy out of it shows just how hard they worked on this project.

| Nov 16, 2017

The result may mostly be a shaggy-dog story, but it's a pleasing one that leaves the viewer with the feeling that humanity may yet be able to rise above its sectarian divisions.

| Sep 27, 2017

It sails smoothly from start to finish and feels like a pleasant adventure, even if it is not particularly memorable.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 19, 2017

At about an hour in, A Hologram for the King pivots in a wonderful direction; what develops from that point on is worth the wait.

| Jun 21, 2017

In the pensive and nimble A Hologram for the King, Tom Hanks isn't waiting for Godot. But he might as well be.

| Jun 20, 2017

A film that takes the unusual metaphor of contemporary man as living hologram until unexpected limit consequences. [Full review in Spanish]

| Feb 23, 2017

A Hologram for the King features Tykwer's known style of repetition and alternative music choices, and is a sad misfire.

| Jan 9, 2017