Post, The (2017) [Blu-ray]
Biography | Drama | History | Thriller

Tagline: Truth be told

A thrilling drama about the unlikely partnership between The Washington Posts Katharine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. The two must overcome their differences as they risk their careers and their very freedom to help bring long-buried truths to light.

Storyline: When American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government's deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Later, Washington Post owner, Kay Graham, is still adjusting to taking over her late husband's business when editor Ben Bradlee discovers the New York Times has scooped them with an explosive expose on those papers. Determined to compete, Post reporters find Ellsberg himself and a complete copy of those papers. However, the Post's plans to publish their findings are put in jeopardy with a Federal restraining order that could get them all indicted for Contempt. Now, Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press. In doing so, Graham and her staff join a fight that would have America's democratic ideals in the balance. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, April 21, 2018 Should The Post really have been about The Times? That's a question that some journalists who were around when the whole Pentagon Papers story broke might allege, citing the fact that it was in fact the venerable New York institution rather than the then upstart Washington, D.C. entity that actually had the scoop to begin with, and which in fact first published the papers, leading to one of the most legendary showdowns between a free press and government forces supposedly out to keep top secret material just that — secret. That said, the New York Times probably didn't have characters as memorable as Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) and Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) to serve as focal points for a cinematic treatment, and it is in fact some of the interpersonal relationships rather than the inherent political intrigue that provides The Post with some of its snap and vigor. A lot of our current news cycle has tended to bring up the Watergate scandal and how that event ultimately brought down the Nixon presidency. It's kind of interesting, then, from a hindsight perspective to watch The Post as its tale of shadowy governmental conspiracies unfolds and to realize, as the screenplay by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer makes clear, that Nixon's presidency was already in perilous straits as soon as Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) decided to "share" top secret information with the press. What's inherently ironic about this is the fact that much of the data Ellsberg shared didn't actually involve Nixon's tenure in office, but focused more on his predecessors, chiefly Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. But Nixon's tendency to take no prisoners in response to what he perceived as an over zealous media found one of its most potent examples in his administration's reaction to the release of the Pentagon Papers, and it was that same hyperbolic pushback to the Watergate issue (a break in which is cheekily alluded to in only the final few seconds of The Post) which really spelled Nixon's own doom. But aside from the subtext of a presidency prone toward paranoia, The Post delves into a number of other issues, not the least of which is a kind of "female empowerment" story as Katharine Graham learns to forcefully take the reins of the Washington Post, in an era when women were largely seen as adjuncts to the male dominated field of journalism.

The Post actually begins in Vietnam in the mid-sixties, documenting a bit of Ellsberg's perhaps lesser known history. But the main bulk of the film segues forward a few years to offer another perhaps slightly forgotten history, namely the fact that the Washington Post was not always the institution it's largely recognized as being today. Instead the paper is in dire financial straits and Graham, newly installed in a leadership position after the shocking death by suicide of her husband, finds herself unavoidably ensconced in a "boys' club" where there's little patience for a woman who "thinks" she's in charge. A lot of The Post depicts the chafing relationship between Graham and her supposed underlings (who act, at least initially, as if they were her superiors), as well as the growth Graham experiences as she becomes more comfortable with her power, something that not so coincidentally aligns with the paper's history making decision to "fight the power" and publish the Pentagon Papers.

It may be well nigh impossible not to compare The Post to All the President's Men, especially since both feature the character of Ben Bradlee as Chief Curmudgeon (so to speak). Hanks' take on the character is perhaps slightly more patrician feeling than Jason Robards' interpretation was in the Alan J. Pakula film, but Bradlee becomes the conscience of the film as the story progresses, insisting that the Post do the right, rather than the expedient (or business savvy), thing.

The Post frankly struggles to whip up much suspense (it's notable to compare it to All the President's Men in that regard, since the earlier film does manage to create a feeling of anxiety despite its foregone conclusion). Where The Post excels is in its depictions of compelling characters caught up in a story that even they may not have a full understanding of. This unfolding aspect is evident in both Graham's reaction to finally, inevitably being in control and Bradlee's clear eyed vision of what needs to happen and what repercussions that may entail. Steven Spielberg may in fact not be firing on all cylinders with this effort, but even middling Spielberg (and I'd argue this is at least a notch or two above middling) tends to outshine many other lesser directors' best efforts.

I had a kind of cool "brush with history" that involved both an icon of the Vietnam War and freedom of the press issues, albeit about a decade or so after the events depicted in The Post. General William Westmoreland and his wife journeyed to Salt Lake City to help celebrate a military award my father (a Major General himself) had won. The most remarkable thing about this visit (other than the lemons from Bob Hope's house that General Westmoreland gifted me with) was Westmoreland's unrelenting outrage over his then fairly recent CBS interview with Mike Wallace that had covered some of the same supposed subterfuge in "official" reporting about the Vietnam War that the Pentagon Papers outlined. If I recall correctly, Westmoreland either hadn't quite decided yet to sue CBS for libel, or perhaps was in the very earliest stages of preparing that lawsuit, but I remember as if it were yesterday a family dinner at my parents' house where the entire "conversation" around the table (more like a monologue, actually) was Westmoreland vehemently defending not only how he had served his country, but how he had reported aspects of the Vietnam War to his superiors and, by default, the public at large. It was an early and visceral instruction into what might be termed a Rashomon- esque response to ostensibly "objective" data points, but it also made me explicitly aware of the almost unavoidable tension between a free press and those serving in some sort of official capacity. Westmoreland ultimately more or less dropped the lawsuit (settling for an apology), in what might be seen as a tacit admission that the First Amendment is probably always going to trump governmental secrecy or in fact any (official) individual's feelings that their reputations have been harmed, an admission no doubt informed by the environment fostered explicitly by the Pentagon Papers release and, subsequently, the whole Watergate affair. The Post may not offer the same personal umbrage that I experienced first hand listening to General Westmoreland, but it gives an outstanding overview of the issues involved, while also detailing a number of supposedly "tangential", but in some ways more emotionally forceful, elements that Graham, Bradlee and their crew of intrepid reporters faced in attempting to bring the truth to the American people. Fox offers a disc with solid technical merits and some appealing supplements, and The Post comes Recommended.

[CSW] -3.2- The performances by Streep and Hanks and others are top drawer; and it is a film - technically speaking - that is worthy of director Steven Spielberg. The overall problem with this movie is pacing. The first act drags so incredibly slow, that by the time the plot actually begins to take shape most people have already checked out. Great performances? Yes. Culturally important subject matter? Absolutely. A good movie? So-so. This is far from the best work Spielberg, Hanks or Streep has done. Streep and Hanks were okay, but I didn't sense a connection, between them, or any of the actors. Emotion was lacking. That was a HUGE time in history. Disclosing the cover-up was huge, and the media made a significant and important turn back then. I just felt the film didn't do justice to the story, or the depths of what was going on that changed history.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box


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