The Post Review

3.5 Stars

 

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.

 

Most are familiar with the story, at least with 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 spanning 4 Presidents 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 were both 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 anticipated 4 solid Stars from The Post.  It looked like it would be exciting, intense, upsetting, infuriating, inspiring and rewarding as we were 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 am lowering my rating slightly.  Spielberg did a great job keeping the story moving.  Not staying in one scene too long, keeping the characters straight so the viewer can follow along with all the players involved in the cover-up and the exposure, using angles to help emote feelings of power and doubt and inferiority.  Hanks was fantastic as Editor Ben Bradlee.  He was equally dedicated to his boss Kay Graham as he was to his employees when threatened by the government as he was to his paper The Post and getting the truth out there.  Streep was brilliant as the first female newspaper publisher Kay Graham who struggled with the transition from the wife of a publisher who hosted parties and lived on the sidelines to taking over complete control and having to make important decisions on her own, decisions that impacted her family's legacy as well as the many people who worked under her.  You definitely felt the anguish over her decisions, the doubt in herself, you cheered when she mustered up the courage to stand up for what was right and not cave in to what was safe. 

 

This is one of those difficult films to rate based on my personal ranking scale.  Remember, there are three main facets to my rankings.  First, how accurately does the preview lead you into the film?  In this case, you get exactly what the preview sells.  Second, the film itself.  This is a great movie, well told, superbly acted and deserving of nominations and awards.  And third, and most importantly, the likelihood of me owning the movie in my personal collection.  And this is why the rating drops slightly.  For me, The Post was entertaining, insightful, and extremely well done from directing to acting to story-telling; however, seeing it once was enough.  While I may watch it again when it comes to the pay channels, it most likely won't be something I'm rushing out to own.  Therefore, I'm lowing my rating to 3.5 Stars.   So, movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.