Review of The Post (2017) by Nicholas T — 01 Feb 2018

They say life's two assurances are death and taxes.

I've got a third-the acting of Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Think about it: you may not like every one of their movies, but have you ever criticized one of their performances?

It comes as no surprise, then, that they each knock it out of the park in Stephen Spielberg's The Post. What is a bit of a shocker, though, is how little you notice. For, like other Hollywood gems detailing the world of print journalism (Spotlight a few years back, All the President's Men a few decades before that), The Post is more concerned with the entire front page than a single by-line. The story is the star.

That story is a doozy, all the more so because it's true. In 1966, a RAND Corporation employee, Daniel Ellsberg, smuggles out an extensive, classified report showing that the U.S. Government-dating back to the Truman administration-has been lying to the American public regarding the Vietnam War. Some of the secrets have cost the lives of American soldiers.

Five years later a New York Times reporter learns of the study and the paper begins running articles. They've just scratched the surface when the government, led by current president Richard Nixon and claiming the leaked information is a threat to national security, effectively sues the Times, temporarily barring it from publishing further articles on the subject.

Shortly thereafter, Washington Post reporter Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) finds Ellsberg and retrieves a copy of the full report. But what does the paper do? Executive Editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) wants to defy the government and publish more stories; everyone else wants to avoid going to prison. But the ultimate decision rests solely with the publisher herself, Katharine Graham (Streep). How does she weigh preserving national security against preserving the will of the people?

This is a lot to digest, and it's not the half of it. But in Spielberg's capable hands, it all goes down easy. Thank also the smart script by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, and editors Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn's ability to streamline such a dense story. At just under two hours, The Post gives you everything you want and nothing you don't.

Some films about the press, including the two previously mentioned, are riveting mysteries. Their reporters investigate like detectives, peeling back layers of an ominous onion. While The Post has these elements, it hinges more on the drama of historic moments. Every impossible decision, and each grave consequence, is felt with singular force. We are constantly reminded, and amazed, that all of this really happened.

Of course, we get just one side. The only government perspective, beyond the twilight threats of an appropriately creepy Nixon, is from former Secretary of Defense Bob McNamara (Bruce Greenwood). Yet this is par for the course. Spotlight never touted a clearheaded viewpoint from inside the Catholic Church.

That's because films don't play by the same rules as newspapers. For a movie to be unbiased, it doesn't have to be comprehensive, just fair. And that fairness is determined, in large part, by tone. You can sense it early, even from a trailer: are the filmmakers letting you, the audience, think for yourself, or are they force-feeding you heavy-handed platitudes?

The Post is principled, but never preachy-a lofty tightrope to master. It is probably Spielberg's best directing job since Munich. I'd previously thought him a bit too melodramatic for the twenty-first century; today's awards contenders are typically marked by unadulterated realism (see Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, etc.).

But here, he somehow manages both styles. With each passing frame we can smell the sweat, the ink, the stress of the players; we are reliving this tangible history. At the same time, we receive subtle, cinematic pinches: actors framed to maximize drama, clever camera movements, lines delivered with theatrical conviction. We never quite forget, in the best sense, that we're watching a movie.

So, what can be said? Streep has been nominated for an Oscar, Hanks should have been; the rest of the supporting cast, including Sarah Paulson, Tracy Letts and Bradley Whitford, fits like a glove; Spielberg has, yet again, rewritten his splendid career. Once more, no surprise.

Which is the greatest compliment. For expecting a masterpiece is almost as rare as getting one.