Why did I love Steven Spielberg’s “The Post?” It could be because I’m a journalist. It could be that I’m a young man who loves hearing all this government/journalism talk in movies. It could be its true life story is important even in the Trump Era. And it could be Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks lead an exceptional cast.
The answer could be all of the above, because this is the best movie I’ve seen all year long. I guess you could say: they saved the best for last.
The movie focuses on the Pentagon Papers, which held secrets-lies about the Vietnam War. The Washington Post gets its hands on them, and for the sake of America, they must publish it. But there are risks: the Post could be gone, and the staff, including its publisher Katharine Graham (Steep), its editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), its journalist Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) and Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys), the activist who released the papers, could all face hard time.
The star-studded cast also includes Alison Brie as Graham’s daughter Lally Weymouth, Jesse Plemmons as an attorney, Sarah Paulson as Bradlee’s wife, and Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara the 8th Secretary of Defense. And others like Bradley Whitford, Zach Woods, David Cross, Michael Stuhlbarg, Carrie Coon, and Tracy Letts appear. Out of all of them I loved Streep, Hanks, Odenkirk, Rhys, and Plemmons, and the characters they portray.
I felt relaxed watching “The Post.” Even during the Trump Era, this is a very important issue about the Vietnam War, and everything is so politically risky. I also love the vivid world of journalism, at the level of “Spotlight” and “All the President’s Men,” as well as the cinematography by Janusz Kaminski (who also worked on such Spielberg’s classic as “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan”), which makes its look so riveting.
Kudos to everyone: the writers Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, the cast, the composer John Williams, the co-producers Amy Pascal and Kristie Macosko Krieger, and Steven Spielberg for bringing it all together.
Who will win the Oscars? We shall see.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Now playing in New York and Los Angeles, and expands everything January 12.
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