The post – a review

When the New York Times runs an article based on some highly flammable material concerning the United States governments and the ongoing Vietnam War they are forced by the justice department to cease. The Washington Post then gets a chance to continue where the Times left off. Showing the United States of America where free press stands for.

Even when Spielberg makes a small movie he brings in his top guns. Tom Hanks and Merl Streep this time round.

And Michael Stuhlbarg who managed to appear in almost every nominated movie this year.
Quite the positive career-move.

Hanks is his usual down to earth persona. He doesn’t deviate far from his usual motive as he did in (for instance) Charlie Wilson’s war. Streep then takes on a slightly awkward accent that took me some time to get used to. However, when she casts her well known spell on the screen she sucks you in by depicting this strong but doubting woman in a male world.

Yes there are feminist motives in this movie but they didn’t feel forced to me.
Rather –as the dialogue has it – that was the time, the situation.

The post is a journalistic movie by the numbers. But I would certainly argue that this movie is far better (as a movie) than Spotlight ever was. To this day I still can’t really wrap my mind around the concept of how connecting the dots after finding some documents in your own basement makes for a good journalist movie. Especially since cases had already come to light abroad. I think it was the horrendousness of the crimes that sold that movie instead of the journalistic angle.

Spotlight, therefore, to me isn't a great movie - it's a sign of the times.

The post proves once again the best and worst of Spielberg as a director. To get the worst out of the way first: the overtly sentimental scene near the end that’s all ‘Amuricah’. It brings shivers and not in the good way. But that’s Spielberg for you and the only true thing that bothered me (though I’m sure anti-liberals are going to hate this movie – I hope they do).

Like any journalist movie The post creates the tension from the ‘should we publish?’-angle. In an awe-inspiringly shot four-way-telephone-call-scene Spielberg shows the mastery of his craft.  Forget about a Velicoraptor entering the kitchen this scene is on the same level. The first hour the movie ups the stakes, letting the audience know what these charming characters have to lose and then bring them right to the edge. The movie is built around this scene.

In that sense The post isn’t a complete movie. It’s a movie that hammers home the message of freedom of press. But we all know that the better story on that subject –especially set during Nixon’s presidency- has already been made: All the president’s men.

Spielberg knows this too. I’m not spoiling anything by telling you what event is depicted in the end-scene. Rather The post is Spielberg flexing his muscles on a smaller scaled movie. A well acted drama that doesn’t take the big story for a change. This allows him (and the movie) to focus on characters and their work related (never quite personal) struggles.

So that’s the duality I have about this movie: it’s well acted and greatly directed, but, in the end, feels a bit lacking. I can’t rid myself of the feeling that this movie is the ‘prequel’ to All the president’s men.

But then what am I complaining? In the constant high quality genre of journalist movies The post ranks right at the top.