radu_niga FIrst, great job Mr Hanks and the whole team! Second, I love to see religions being openly and politely/nicely/lovingly challenged into pondering how sometimes they kill everything that is human in us. Nothing brutal here, so fear not and proceed. Third.... showing love is perhaps a virtue we need more than anything in our modern hectic society. I say that in regard to all the unthinking, senseless, sad and unreasonable amount of HATE people unleash out there, and in regard to the NEGATIVE comments on this movie - PLEASE DON'T MIND THEM, just watch this really nice decent lovely piece, and judge for yourself, or better yet, let yourself be taken on a nice Hanks ride, give judgement a break for once :) . I will say no more. Enjoy!

sara2520 I really liked this movie, but I understand it is culturally distasteful and Hollywood's way of mocking the Saudi Arabian culture. Your common sense tells you there would be not bikinis in a store's window display. No Saudi Arabian woman, married or otherwise,would go snorkeling topless when the risks of getting caught is death. So even though the SA doctor and Tom Hanks have chemistry and a cute romance, it's completely implausible. As far as the Embassy party scene, the illegal booze, drug use, and business professional hooking up in private, that happens behind closed doors yet it was insulting to Muslims for them to include it even though I thought the scenes were interesting. Yet, I enjoyed this movie and seeing middle aged love besides a sixty year old man hooking up with a bubbly twenty something. Hank's character struggle is realistic like many Americans are facing now trying to keep their head above water drowning in debt,dwindling job opportunities, stagnant pay, lack of job security, outsourcing, and constant of uncertainty. His character was very relatable struggling with the disappointments in his life and trying to continue to feel alive in an ever changing world. I loved the scenery of Saudi Arabia, the exotic deserts, the beautiful women even covered up in their hijabs, the beautiful white sand beaches, large spacious homes, it's like their living like kings in the desert. It was a beauty movie to watch with exotic locations and one of my favorite scenes is when he meets the SA businessman giving him a taste of the SA wealth. No it's completely accurate and devout Muslims will find this movie insulting because of the vices shown. Yet, I enjoy this fantasy of a movie mixed with reality of living in a global unpredictable world.

Alex I love Tom Hanks, but was disappointed by this film. I also found the 12 age restriction far too low for this film.I am not a Muslim, but found the sexual content and nudity of the woman who would normally even have to cover her head in public, uncomfortable and strange. The storyline was however unusual and Refreshing.

Sean Lamberger Tom Hanks plays a fish-out-of-water businessman in this tale of culture shock, self- doubt and discovery. Set amidst the flat desert plains of Saudi Arabia, Hanks aims to mend his financial struggles by selling an absentee king on a gimmicky hologram- driven teleconferencing solution. Along the way, he encounters no shortage of roadblocks, be they personal, bureaucratic, cultural or medical, and eventually recognizes it as a growth opportunity. This is a conflicted picture, much in the same way our leading man plays a conflicted individual. Nailing down a steady tone seems difficult; the film opens with a loose, cartoonish musical number, then settles into a fast-paced corporate shuffle before cutting that loose and becoming a warm-hearted buddy picture and, finally, a contemplative romance. All this in a very trim, quick ninety minutes. Social norms are a steady focus, shining a flashlight on the immense gap between everyday life as an American and as a Saudi, but in the end it feels like those are only superficial, easily brushed aside to make way for a happy ending. That climax leaves us with dozens of loose ends, half-heartedly explored threads that are inspected and discarded like an inattentive child digging through his toybox. It all feels very loose and light, like we've read a summary but not the entire story. There's a compelling yarn buried somewhere within A Hologram for the King, but we only skim the surface. Interesting and original but quite limited.