The Post is a 2017 production from 20th Century Fox, Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures. The movie is directed by Steven Spielberg, with the script written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer. The movie has a heavily star-filled cast featuring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Bradley Whitford, Alison Brie and David Cross. The movie scores a 7.2/10 on IMDb and received an 83 Metascore.
The Story
It is always hard to create a great movie out of real-life events, especially if these events are political. Therefore I feel that The Post does not live up to the true story. Most of the story exists of people talking about American history with very little true story building. In the end, the film shows how a newspaper gets its hands on private documents and how they end up publishing them, but there is very little story to tell there.
Maybe it is because I am not American and therefore not familiar with most of the events discussed, but I can hardly believe that Americans, who weren’t alive during the real-life events, find this a good story. Sure, it captures some good moments, like the moment Kay Graham decides for herself instead of listening to the men around her, which leads to the publication of the papers although it could cost her everything. Those moments sure are special and deliver a great feeling of excitement, but are not enough to keep the story afloat for me.
This film shows one of the problems, for me, with such political, reality-based, movies. The whole idea of the American government hiding these documents from the public is truly astonishing. I could probably watch hours of coverage on the subject without getting bored, but maybe that is just me. A movie about a newspaper that is deciding whether or not to print these documents, is less interesting to me.
The Characters
I was quite baffled by casting in this movie, they sure went all out on the actors with the likes of Hanks and Streep, but also pretty famous actors like Odenkirk and Paulson for quite minor roles. That is also where this movie shines. Tom and Meryl’s performances are very powerful and help deliver the true depth of the underlying story.
Kay grows as a woman as she realises that she can achieve just as much as the man around her, and the writers make sure they emphasize that. They likely wanted to make this strong woman movie. Ben’s story is a bit more complicated as his relationship with Kay is a bit unclear for the bigger part of the movie. They also indicate that Ben has a reputation for certain actions, but in the end, Ben’s backstory never gets truly explained.
The Production
This the part where the legendary Steven Spielberg can truly shine. The sets and atmosphere in almost every single scene are extraordinary. Even simple moments, like Bagdikian making a phone call, is made interesting to watch. As well as around the end of the movie, where we get the montage of the printing presses and the teams that make sure the papers get delivered on time, combined with the voice-over from a news shows. Although the story might not have been the best, Spielberg shows his qualities with this production masterpiece.