Review of The Post (2017) by Jluis_001 — 28 Jan 2018

I found difficult to acquire the most appropriate definition for this film, considering my expectations not only because of its protagonists but for its director, but in the end the word that resonated more in my head after watching it was passivity, that was it, The Post is a film that felt too passive.

First of all the focus is lost in most of its introduction, because the beginning shows you a glimpse of a situation and if you know of history you know where it's going, however the narrative disappears that element for more than half an hour to introduce the situation that Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) was facing about the control and direction of the Washington Post.

The film consumes valuable minutes trying to get you involved in the situation with the obvious intention of provoking a more dramatic response towards the final part in which it clearly shows that not only freedom of expression was at risk but what it would have represented for the newspaper if they had lost in court under the pressure of Nixon the right to expose the documents of the pentagon papers. In other times I think this film would've been inconsequential in Spielberg's career and not because I believe or think it's bad, it's because is just an okay film that would simply be far from being illustrious. But in our days it takes on an important relevance considering the huge attacks that the American press is suffering today at the hands of their president and that is perhaps the best thing about this film, to remind its audience that exposing the truth is sometimes not so simple and more relevant today with social networks where everything can be manipulated, especially the truth.

In general The Post is a firm but minimal film, not trivial, much less insignificant, but personally I think that Spierlberg played very safely, he relied a lot on his two solid lead actors, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep and he just simply let things flow in the most practical way, there is nothing wrong with that, but a director like him can still take risks. Let's see what he will do with Ready Player One.