The Post Review
PG13: language and brief war violence
20th Century Fox, Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, Participant Media
Dir: Steven Spielberg | Writers: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer
1 Hr and 55 Minutes
Cast: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys, Carrie Coon, Alison Brie, Jesse Plemons, David Cross, Zach Woods, Michael Stuhlbarg
INTRO: You smell that? Its that time of the year again. Its the season of the Spielberg. Steven Spielberg does this annoying thing every year during Oscar season where he would drop a movie around Christmas or the Fall so his film can get an Oscar nomination. He did it with "War Horse," "Lincoln," "The Adventures of Tintin," and more. Now he has "The Post" where he isn't alone looking for an Oscar but brought along Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep as his leads. Jesus, fuck Oscar bait. I can see that statue ready to bust a nut over this movie, and I don't blame it.
A cover-up that spanned four U.S. presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher, Kay Graham (Streep) of The Washington Post, and its hard-driving editor, Ben Bradlee (Hanks), to join an unprecedented battle between journalism and government in publishing the Pentagon Papers.
THE GOOD
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NEWS
Remember when news used to be about actual things that matter such as declassified secrets? Before Buzzfeed was all over the place and before Edward Snowden exposed the NSA, THERE WERE NEWSPAPERS! Granted we still have newspapers today, and a significant number of people read them even to this day, there was a time when publications focused on delivering well actual news that was quite shocking and informative. If you think that being a news reporter wasn’t a cool job, by God Spielberg makes it look so cool. If “Spotlight” didn’t want to make you want to become a journalist, “The Post” will make you want to drop your current profession right when you step out of the theater to become a journalist. Just make sure you don’t go about it similarly to Jake Gyllenhaal in “Nightcrawler.”
What makes the story so engaging to watch is how this was taking place during a time where the White House was against journalists for breaking out the actual truth hidden from the public. Whenever sources dish out the truth, Nixon would claim it as an invasion of privacy and pretty much call it fake news.
One of the most interesting things about the movie is how the film depicts journalists and the people who run the newsroom for they are practically spies. Seriously, a lot of the first half of this movie is the Washington Post sending their people out to other news sources to check out the competition. Spielberg has news reporting into an espionage game. He makes this similar to “Bridge of Spies,” and some of that film’s cast appears in this as well.
It was a time where The New York Times and Washington Post was in the war to be the most credible news source of the country. Spielberg kinds of portrays it similarly to a mafia flick where heads of the companies would often have dinner with each other long after they would send some of their people to infiltrate the other’s office. Shoot they still have dinner even after The New York Times dropped an article about people who work in the Washington Post having ties to the White House during the time they practically lied about the statistics of the Vietnam War.
The thing that adds complexity to this story is Kay Graham and Ben Bradlee and their friendships with previous people in office. One of the best lines noted from the film is when Ben says, “There was a time where people of the press and the president worked hand in hand.” Before getting to where they are in accordance with the time this takes place, Graham and Bradlee were once actually close friends with presidents before they became presidents. Bradlee was close to JFK and Graham was friends with JFK, LBJ, and other important names in Washington. But after JFK's assassination, the press was in arms with whoever ran the oval office of course Nixon didn't pay play for a second.
HANNAH AND THE SINGER
The well informed detailed screenwriting writing by Josh Singer and Liz Hannah is brilliantly decided to make elements of this story feel whole. Singer who is known best for being 1/2 of the screenwriting duo behind 2015’s Best Picture winner “Spotlight,’ you can tell wrote the moments of intensity where it deals with these characters going out to find the Pentagon Papers and fighting for the freedom of the press. Its nature of fighting for truth and justice is very reminiscent of "Spotlight," and that is done through Singer. Hannah is EVERYTHING ELSE! This is Hannah’s first feature film that she single-handedly wrote, and the passion she put into this script is really there. From the characters to the message to the procedure of obtaining the papers: this is all Hannah. Read several articles about her underdog story of how she got her script to be directed by Spielberg and it will move and inspire you to write your story.
What is great about this story is how there are two separate plot lines at a time to execute a remarkable overall story that is both an empowering statement for women and the press which are two of the most relevant topics going on today. During a time where journalism is under attack by our American president, this movie plays like a 115 minute fuck you response to Donald Trump. Just like “Detroit,” its story which took place has many relevances to the issues America is going through today, and it's inspiring in every way imaginable.
JUST GIVE THE WOMAN ANOTHER NOMINATION AGAIN
Besides having the primary story being centered on the Washington Post obtaining the Pentagon Papers, it also focuses on Katharine Graham becoming the chairman of her family’s paper. Katharine Graham got to be The Washington Post’s chairman out of nepotism due to her late husband, but we see her thoroughly working her ass off to run it. The film subtly tells you that she is experienced with this company and had a huge hand running it long before becoming the chairman but because she’s a woman nobody listens to her. The people in the newsroom treat her with respect, but when it comes to meeting with other board members, the relationship is incredibly different. When she speaks up nobody hears a word she says, but when a person with a penis repeats the things that she says, then they’re all ears. This is during the time where women were fighting for their rights.
We’ve seen Streep at every variation from confident to vulnerable to weak to strong. This is a character that is full of life but at the same time full of inner conflict as she questions whether to run the Pentagon Papers story or not and this performance she gives is incredible. It is a journey to self-discovery as we see her go out of her way to risk the reputation of the company vs. what she believes is right. By God, Streep has a scene where she delivers a speech of triumph, and I challenge you not to scream YAS QWEEN by the time it ended of it because I know I did, and so did five other people in my theater. And this was at a guild screening. Shoot you will turn into to the Meryl Streep meme to react to Meryl Streep.
DAMN IT YOU BLEW ME AWAY AGAIN
The main thing that pisses me off is that this Oscar bait film has the trio of legends, and to no surprise, they’re all magnificent. What can I say about Spielberg’s direction? Its friggin Steven Spielberg. He can direct a movie about a chair and it would still be impressive as hell. At this point, it's redundant to hail Spielberg’s direction or Hank’s Performance or Streep’s performance (though I will get to her soon) because they’re a trifecta of brilliance.
THE BAD
SO MANY BIG NAMES SHAME THEY’RE NOT REALLY IN HERE
Streep and Hanks spearhead this movie, but one of the most significant problems with this is that there are way too many names in here and some have barely anything to do. Other actors just appear in supporting roles, but in all honesty, you would expect them to play a more prominent part of this story. It's not until an hour or 45 minutes in until David Cross is in the movie and you can never guess until you hear his voice. You hear him, but he’s so unrecognizable that when he comes on, you realize that one of the reporters is David Cross. Speaking of which, Hey Steven are you sure you didn’t cast David Cross and Bob Odenkirk in the same movie because you loved Mr. Show? Well, now I can’t get that thought out of my head. Bob Odenkirk receives a lot of screen time because his character’s actions are very similar to his most notable role of Saul Goodman.
Sarah Paulson who is a killer boss in “American Horror Story” is in this cast and you know who she plays as? Just a stay at home housewife to Tom Hanks. You could've given this role to anyone who is less of a name, but its Sarah Paulson who has won many acting awards for “AHS.” Then you have Alison Brie as Streep’s daughter and Jesse Plemons as a federal agent. It mainly becomes a whose who experience for a while for it takes you out of the story for a few.
LAST STATEMENT
I hate how much this movie had me gripped and at the edge of my seat for all the right reasons. Hanks is fantastic, Streep is stupendous, and Spielberg’s direction is masterful. “The Post” is a relevant docudrama that inspirationally regains the audiences faith in real journalism at a time where journalism is attacked by big men babies in the oval office.
Rating: 4.5/5 | 94%
Super Scene: Katharine lays down the law.
