Review of The Post (2017) by Thomas D — 18 Jan 2018

The Post is assembled by director Steven Spielberg and stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. There may never be a better 1-2-3 combo then those three names involved with one film. And the star power doesn't even stop there. The rest of the cast is comprised of Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Alison Brie, Bruce Greenwood, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons. And the important thing to note is that they are all extraordinary in the movie, which actually hurts the film to some degree ironically enough.

The one complaint i've consistently heard from people (and even those who like the film), is that it was hard to connect to any of the characters. If I'm being honest, it's not all that invalid of a claim. I can't say that I agree with that 100%, but I certainly felt like there was more room for character development then there should have been with the talent involved. Strangely enough, the immensely talented cast distracts from the lack of character building by giving tremendous performances.

I'm a sucker for movies about the inner-workings of a newspaper, being an aspiring writer myself. I find all of the ins and outs of putting together a great lead/story fascinating. Perhaps no stories were more interesting than the ones The Washington Post (among many papers) were putting together in the late 60's and early 70's. That is of course, until the ridiculous surge of "fake news" in today's age. My god, will there be a movie about every single one of the absurd things that comes out of the White House during this presidential run?

In all, The Post moves at a rapid pace with beautiful cinematography and long takes of a newsroom, there honestly isn't much more I could have asked for in that department. However, I don't think this was Spielberg's best effort (actually nor Streep or Hanks either). It could have used a better script, but the importance and relevance to this story is more than enough to make it worth watching.

8.3/10.