With an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, “The Post” has been a breakout hit. Its impressive cast—including Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks—manages to transform offices and meetings into thrilling locales. Telling the story of the Pentagon Papers and The Washington Post, the film portrays publisher Katharine Graham as she butted heads and collaborated with Ben Bradlee, executive editor of the paper. They revealed the government’s knowledge of the futility of the Vietnam War and defied the government, much to the chagrin of the rival New York Times.
A political film with no heavy action scenes, the film’s real success was in its casting and directing. Steven Speilberg showed each character’s growth expertly, all while keeping the focus on the main historical events. Katharine Graham was expertly played by Meryl Streep, who portrayed her growth from pushover to publisher wonderfully. While it’s a lesser story arc in the midst of political chaos, Graham’s eventual show of strength and solidarity with the newsroom managed to be the most moving and exciting moment of the film. Tom Hanks plays Bradlee opposite Streep, bringing out the excitement of a newsroom thorough his portrayal of the editor.
Depicting the politics of a newsroom can be a difficult task, not to mention doing so while keeping the attention of an audience accustomed to action and violence in many current films. As executive editor of the paper, Bradlee is arguably the person most in control of the Pentagon Papers story. “The Post” shows his influence, while also showing his camaraderie with the reporters and search for the truth (say what you will about his motivations). This is perhaps best shown when a team of reporters and lawyers descend on the Bradlee home, disrupting Bradlee’s daughter, played by Austyn Johnson, and his wife, played by Sarah Paulson. In the midst of the chaos, Bradlee’s energy seems to propel the plot forward as he works side by side with the reporters to comb through the thousands of pages.
As a person with the attention span of a fruit fly, I surprisingly enjoyed this movie. Without car chases or action sequences, Spielberg managed to translate the tension and stress of the time to the audience by using stretches of silence as opposed to a frantic soundtrack. I found myself on the edge of my seat, popcorn forgotten, despite the fact that I already knew the ending.
Say what you will about the historical accuracy, but with incredible storytelling and an even more incredible cast, this film will undoubtedly be a favorite of 2018.
