I found this movie on Netflix and came to it without any expectations, having read no reviews beforehand. I wondered what Tom Hanks was up to now. Unlike many viewers, I don't see why every TH movie has to be a "hit". I found the Saudi Arabian locale and characters fascinating, wondering how they manage to build such opulent structures in a desert. To continue the holographic metaphor, the projected new-city-in-the-desert was more of a mirage than a reality.I understand why critics at Rotten Tomatoes give it a 73% fresh rating: it is different and critics like that. Only 55% of the audience at RT enjoyed it because they were expecting something different, and audiences don't like that. As other reviewers have mentioned, the plot meanders and goes in odd directions. But that is part of the quirky attraction for me, at least. While the story ends a bit abruptly (too nicely/neatly?), Tom Hank's character is a sympathetic one that the audience willingly roots for.

Take Hanks out and it would really struggle. Not that Tom is great, he's just doing his thing, like likeable character that's having a rough ride but making the best of it. Good old Tom. He plays an American businessman, a salesman who tasted success, but it's years behind him. Now he's in Saudi Arabia trying to rekindle his career, but floundering in a country that doesn't work the way he's used to. It's a battle and you root for Tom... even if it's not always clear what he's fighting for. It's all a little bit dreamlike and needlessly confusing. That said, its jumbled nature makes it oddly endearing. It twists and twists and twists, falls a bit flat, then gets up again. Does this review make any sense? No? Good! Bang on with the film.

To summarize things, I am a huge Tom Hanks fan. I love to see his movies over and over. The Terminal (2004) - I don't know how many times I have seen that movie and even cried. But this particular movie also made me cry, because of the intense level of pain. Totally unexpected from Tom Hanks, that he will go through with such a character and a script. I have tried to watch this movie and for the first several attempts, I failed. The movie has no attraction points. There is almost no scene where you can get amazed and set yourself for the rest of the movie. Everything is so hazy and without any solid purpose.I will still be seeing more of Tom Hank's movies. But I don't expect him to work on such type of characters.

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.