The Post Preview

The Vietnam War was a 20-year long war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1955 to 1975.  In 1965, American military analyst Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) reported with disgust to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood) that no progress was being made.  McNamara commented that his findings meant that things were actually getting worse.  Almost immediately after their conversation, McNamara spoke with the press reporting falsely that the situation was getting better in the War.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C. in 1971, Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) took over operations of The Washington Post newspaper after her husband Phillip died.  Their competitor New York Times published reports on cover-ups about the Vietnam War and were quickly silenced by President Richard Nixon.  Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk), a journalist for the Post got a meeting with Ellsberg who gave him 1000 copied classified documents confirming the cover-ups.  

The Post is the true story about the first U.S. female newspaper publisher Kay Graham as she and her Chief Editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) struggle between their duties as journalists to expose the truth about the White House cover-ups about the Vietnam War and their responsibilities to their employees to keep them safe when they are threatened by the White House to stay away from the story.  

The Post was nominated for 9 Golden Globes, though it didn't walk away with any wins.  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri beat The Post for Best Picture Drama, Guillermo Del Toro took home the award for Best Director for The Shape of Water, Gary Oldman beat out Tom Hanks for Best Actor for his role as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and Frances McDormand beat out Meryl Streep for her performance in Three Billboards.

The preview tells a story that most are familiar with, at least the highlights.  But The Post goes deep into the behind the scenes efforts and struggles that went into exposing the lies being told by the White House about the Vietnam War.  But it was about more than just the War.  It was about one of the core tenants of what makes America unique: the freedom of the press.  Journalists have both an obligation and a responsibility to share the truth, and they have a right to do so without obstruction.  Streep and Hanks look to be brilliant, as you would expect.  I have yet to see Hanks in something I haven't enjoyed and both should be nominated for an Oscar for their performances.  The Post was directed by Stephen Spielberg and the music was composed by John Williams to round out the posse of Hollywood A-listers involved in this film. I am anticipating 4 solid Stars from The Post.  It looks like it will be exciting, intense, upsetting, infuriating, inspiring and rewarding as we are given an inside look to a pivotal time in our nation's history regarding politics and the press, something that is as relevant as ever in our current political climate.  I think it will be something I want to watch again and will have a strong chance of making it to my home collection.  So, am I right?  We shall see.