Steven Spielberg returns with a timely and involving project that is indicative of our current troubled times. Kay Graham (Meryl Streep), the first female US newspaper publisher faces some tough choices when her editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) makes a stand against Nixon’s desire to curb the free press.
Using The Washington Post, Ben and his team face the daunting proposition of being the first to break the news of leaked documents that suggest a conspiracy dating back past four presidential campaigns. With the New York Times curtailed, it’s up to The Post to make a stand and bring the guilty parties to the forefront… even if that means going to jail themselves.
Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are as peerless as you’d expect, and a double-act that guarantees you quality in every scene. They both bounce off one another with a spark and verve that brings this edge-of-your-seat drama to life. A betting man would have had no qualms about predicting a clean sweep of awards for The Post given the talent involved, but it’s been a great year for the acting categories in 2017. So I expect The Post will face some stiff competition this awards season.
The film also has a brilliant ensemble including Bob Odenkirk, Bradley Whitford, Alison Brie, David Cross, Sarah Paulson, Tracy Letts & Bruce Greenwood all delivering noteworthy support. The style and pacing is sound, however the urgency of the situation and the threat that they were under could have been played up a little bit more in key scenes. This was a very precarious time and there are sequences in the movie where the heightened suspense should have been amplified to convey this (very real) threat much more.
With Steven Spielberg at the helm, this was always going to be an assured watch. The triple-threat of Spielberg, Hanks and Streep are sensational and deliver a story that works as a good companion piece to All the President’s Men and the classic thrillers of that era. It’s also a sad reminder of where we find ourselves as a society today, with the U.S President hell-bent on curbing the press and accusing them of ‘fake news’. In many ways, The Post is more relevant now than in its own depicted era, and one that carries huge importance and significance for today’s uncertain world.
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Cast: Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Bob Odenkirk, Bradley Whitford, Alison Brie, David Cross, Sarah Paulson, Tracy Letts, Bruce Greenwood Director: Steven Spielberg Writer: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer Released By: eOne Certificate: 12A Duration: 116 mins Release Date: 19th January 2018
