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Join UsStar Cast: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Matthew Rhys.
Director: Steven Spielberg.
What’s Good: Making us realise how press won the basic need freedom of speech in the US, but do we get that here, still? Ahem-Padmavat-ahem! Tom Hanks & Meryl Streep’s touch of brilliance.
What’s Bad: Pace gets sloppy sometimes & Spielberg takes a considerable amount of time to plant in the seed of the main story which starts to bother in the first hour.
Loo Break: No! When you’ve people like Hanks & Streep been directed by Spielberg – let them just stand still for 2 hours straight, you can’t move from your seat.
Watch or Not?: This movie should be made a compulsory watch for all the budding journalists to study. Rest of people can watch it only if they’re willing to watch a real story unfold with some.
User Rating:Â
The movie starts among chaotic war scenes giving a hint at the underneath layer of what about the story is going to be. Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) who has been State Department analyst on the ground in Vietnam for a couple of years decides to leak some highly confidential documents to a reporter. The documents were the prestigious Pentagon Papers – documents that had every proof of America’s involvement in Vietnam from World War II to 1968. Ellsberg passes the papers to New York Times and they start running the excerpts from 1971.
The other side of this coin, Washington Post – led by a woman who, though, is not completely aware about the business tactics but knows how to tackle them – Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep). It’s a story about the time when Post was not known for its brilliant approach to the political news but it all started with this incident. It all starts when an official from Post gets his hand on Pentagon Papers from the same source New York Times did. Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), Post’s veteran editor tries his best to get these papers published but it’s Katharine who’ll take the final decision. Watch the movie to get on a roller coaster ride of how history was made.
The Post Movie Review: Script Analysis
In a script where you’re handling a real story about the clash of freedom of the press & a country’s security, you get barred from all the entertainment providing factors. You can either keep your audience entertained or educate them; Sir Spielberg finds a line between both & educate by keeping us entertained. There’s a dialogue in the film which says “I always wanted to be a part of smaller rebellion” – clearly indicating how the process was not just about a newspaper agency wanting to attract readers, it was way much more than that.
The story is scripted by a young debutante Liz Hannah & it’s not every day your writing gets directed by Steven Spielberg. She had the back of Josh Singer, who has aced something similar like this script before – Spotlight. It could easily have been boring but thankfully is saved by the self-awareness of its script.
The Post Movie Review: Star Performance
Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee is as usual at his top form. This man at the age of 61 not in a single film has failed to surprise us. Spielberg, a couple of times, has used a lower camera angle from Hanks shoes showing his towering personality – it might be used to make the scene look stylish but I took it as a subtext of the monumental heights, Hanks, as achieved as an actor.
Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham remodels her complex character with ease. She knows she’s being the center of attraction but she underplays it with her trademark brilliance. Portraying role of a woman who gained something after losing everything, Streep infuses real traits in her character.
The Post Movie Review: Direction, Music
Movie making is a lengthy process, but not always for this 71-year old master in Steven Spielberg. He got this script on February’17 and he moulded it into this gem of a movie within months including pre & post-production. Spielberg directs it with utmost honesty keeping every aspect of the story in mind.
Watched the movie with a friend who teaches Journalism and she said she’ll not allow the students next week who will fail to watch this film. Many might see this as a festival film, but trust me this is not. John Williams’ music has not much to do but luckily it doesn’t obstruct too.
The Post Movie Review: The Last Word
Apart from watching this film for Hanks, Streep & Spielberg, watch this for its mastering approach of portraying a decision that made history. Ending by quoting the movie itself, “Press was made to serve the governed, not the governors!”
Four stars!
The Post Movie Trailer
The Post Movie releases on 12th January, 2018.
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