Texas, 1870. The splendidly named Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) travels from town to town as a “newsreader,” which is exactly what it sounds like – he selects the most interesting recent items from newspapers and magazines, and reads them aloud to locals for a dime, so that they may hear “the great changes that are happening out there.” He’s a mixture of reporter and storyteller, and something like a folklorist as well; Kidd was also a preacher once upon a time, and that’s not too surprising either. “It’s not a rich man’s occupation,” he chuckles, but it’s a respectable one. More importantly, it allows him to travel and work free of any real commitments or connections. And then, in spite of himself, he makes one.