Read all about it: ‘The Post’
For Spielberg’s real-life journalism saga.
The Post, Steven Spielberg’s gripping and taut tackling of the Pentagon Papers scandal, takes place in 1971 but happens to be the most politically timely highprofile Hollywood tale of 2017.
Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep captain a deep bench of character actors in the thrilling drama ( eeeg; rated PG-13; in New York, Los Angeles and Washington Dec. 22, nationwide Jan. 12), a coffeeswilling joy about government corruption, newspaper rivalries and how a well-sourced story can save the day. While cinematic predecessors like All
the President’s Men and more recently Spotlight focused on the dogged procedural aspect of reportage, The Post and its sleek depiction of how The Washing
ton Post took on the White House preWatergate (and won) is much more about the bigger-picture championing of the First Amendment.
The battle is fought on two fronts.
The New York Times runs a bombshell report about a leaked study tracing three decades of growing involvement in the Vietnam War. Irked about being scooped, Post editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) rounds up his reporters to dig deeper, and when the Times is shut down by the Department of Justice, Bradlee’s colleague Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) reaches out to whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) to get a complete copy of the Pentagon Papers.
Meanwhile, Post publisher Kay Graham (Streep) is preparing to take the cash-poor family company public. Hoping to invest in more reporters (“Quality and profitability go hand in hand,” she says), Graham is greeted by a disagreeable board full of stubborn men, and things get truly intense when she and her employees risk a government injunction by publishing the papers.
Liz Hannah and Josh Singer’s screenplay crackles with intrigue but goes overboard in trying to mirror today’s 24/7 news cycle. The word “collusion” sticks out to any casual cable-news viewer, there’s a president waging a petty war against media outlets, and Gra- ham’s side of the story offers a strong feminist angle. Bradlee’s wife, Tony (an underutilized Sarah Paulson), is there mainly to remind her spouse — and the audience — about the publisher’s onewoman fight against a patriarchy that wants to put her in her place.
And it’s a role built for Streep to slay — she has a few rousing speeches that’ll make Oscar voters take note. Hanks is just as enjoyable as a hard-charging and immensely likable leader.
The Post is an inspirational reminder of the importance of a free press while unabashedly making journalism look like the most awesome job ever — akin to what Raiders of the Lost Ark did for archaeology. The adventurous Spielbergian lens and a dynamite John Williams score jazz up the most mundane newspaper conventions, from a copy editor striking words with a red pen to trucks rolling out with first editions.
If only the same heroic anthems accompanied the writing of a movie review.