THE POST – A Review by Cynthia Flores
It seems history is repeating itself in the fact that we have a president in office that is at war with the press much like the president in the film The Post was. This makes the new offering from director Steven Spielberg a timely must see film to watch.
The Post covers the true story of what happened when the press revealed a government cover up that spanned four U.S. presidents. At the tip of the battle between journalism and government was the country's first female newspaper publisher, Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) of the Washington Post and it's gritty editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), who, despite the ban on the New York Times which started the first parts of the expose, decided to continue publishing the now infamous Pentagon papers. In case you don't know what those are, it was a report done for the department of defense to show the history of the United States and its political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. Once leaked by Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys), it was nicknamed the Pentagon papers. This information being released put the feet of the government to the fire about all the misinformation and straight out lies that were fed to the American people, which resulted in the staggering loss of life during the Vietnam war.
Make no mistake, this film’s not slow, boring, or just for history nuts and liberal America. It’s fast paced and thrilling. Meryl Streep shines as she shows the bravery and daring it took for Kay Graham to allow her editor to continue his quest to find a way into the story when the New York Times had already faced injunction by the courts to stop any more publications on the subject. You have to remember this was happening at a time when women were supposed to be seen and not heard, much like children. So having a woman in such a powerful position was brand new. The film shows what a role model she ended up being. I also enjoyed watching the relationship between Kay and Ben Bradley develop from his initial dismissive adversarial beginning to one with true mutual respect between the two.
We’re lucky because we get an early first look at The Post in this area in a few select theaters before it’s released everywhere in January. This a great film and a must see to keep up with the films that will undoubtedly populate the 2018 Oscar competition. I give it a solid A rating.
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written By Liz Hanna, Josh Singer
Rated PG-13
Selig Rating A
Running Time 1hr 55min
Drama / Historical
Limited Release Dec 25th Wide release in January 2018
The Selig Rating Scale:
A – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
B – Good movie
C – OK movie
D – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
F – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn't paid for it.
