Not Fake News: The Post (Review)

December 19, 2017

“History repeats itself because no one was listening the first time.”
– Anonymous

2017 has been, let’s say, one for the history books. It’s been difficult to put it into words: the disappointment, the fear, the resentment underlying every aspect of American politics and day-to-day life. Luckily, we have one of the greatest American artists, Steven Spielberg, to put all that anxiety (and hope) onto film: making a period movie that also happens to be the most modern and relevant movie of the year. The Post was filmed in 2016, before the election results poured in, but it is not difficult to see the parallels between America’s current situation and the story of the Pentagon Papers.

The Post kicks off in 1966, as soldiers in Vietnam are painting themselves to camouflage their faces, heading off into the jungle with observer Dan Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys), there on behalf of Robert McNamara. The group is quickly ambushed and chaos erupts. This event (as well as McNamara’s blatant lie to the public) leads to the leak of the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times, setting the stage for the rest of the movie.

At the time, The Washington Post was considered just a local newspaper, itching to reach a national audience and compete with the heavy hitters (mainly The New York Times). In the film, the Post is run by Kay Graham (Meryl Streep), alongside editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks). As Bradlee tries to think of a way to increase their publishing footprint, the Times prints their first story using the leaked Pentagon documents, sending shockwaves through both D.C. and America. President Nixon immediately puts an injunction on the Times, laying the groundwork for Bradlee and the Post to both make a difference and be seen as a nationally respected source of news.

The Washington Post is able to get ahold of the rest of the Pentagon Papers with the help of Ben Bagdikian, played marvelously by Bob Odenkirk, with the cast then rushing to get the story out, buoyed by an underlying fear of Nixon. Hanks, as always, gives a stellar performance but Meryl Streep, as the publisher and owner of The Washington Post, absolutely shines in this film. Her performance is rather reserved, as she wades through a sea of white men telling her what to do, making the hard decision to run with a story that could result in the dissolving of her newspaper.

And when the Post does decide to print the story, the offices in the building start to physically shake, a fitting metaphor for how these events changed America (and a heady reminder of a time when a sitting President tried to shut down a newspaper for exposing facts about his administration). Steven Spielberg proves that he is still at the top of his game, pushing his art form to tell interesting (and relevant) stories, scored beautifully by the masterful John Williams.

The Post is the film America as a whole needs right now, especially when a certain man in Washington picks fights with the media once more, shouting “fake news” and hiding truth. A story from 1971 is more relevant than ever.

Rating:

Some Further Observations:

McNamara’s line, “There are arguments on both sides” brought out chuckles from the audience, which may not have been Spielberg’s intent.
David Cross’s combover almost stole the entire movie. Perfect.
While in court, one of the witnesses being questioned says, “If the president can’t keep secrets, how can he govern?” Well, that’s a scary thought.
With Odenkirk and Jesse Plemons, we got a nice, on-screen Breaking Bad reunion!