The Post

For his next film, Steven Spielberg turned his camera to the world of Journalism, specifically the renowned Washington Post and a groundbreaking case that once again reiterated the power and importance of the free press and it's relation to the Government it reports on, especially in the era of "fake news". 

When the New York Times releases a report on some top secret government documents detailing the truth of the then on-going Vietnam War, Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks) wonders why they didn't get it. Meanwhile, the Post's new owner and publisher (after the death of her husband), Katharine Graham (played by Meryl Streep) is preparing to take the paper public on the stock market, a move she recognizes will make the paper for financially stable. She also has to deal with a board of directors of all men, led by the condescending Arthur Parsons (played by Bradley Whitford). When an injunction is filed against The New York Times from publishing any more stories, Bradlee sees a chance to grab the story for themselves as reporter Ben Bagdikian (played by Bob Odekirk) sets out to track down the documents for them through a contact of his that he thinks provided the documents to the New York Times. When Bagdikian is able to locate the documents, Bradlee and Graham have an difficult decision to make. Do they go ahead and publish them, knowing that doing so could not only jeopardize the newly publicly traded Washington Post but possibly land them in jail? 

For a film that takes place in 1971, it sure does feel timely in some surprising ways. The main themes of a free press standing up to the Government and freely reporting on it feels just as relevant today as it did in the era of Richard Milhouse Nixon. Steven Spielberg tackles the material well, keeping the film going at a brisk pace as the intrepid reporters locate the copies of the top secret documents and debate whether or not to publish them. Spielberg and his seasoned crew of veterans shoot the film quite well to keep things visually engaging as John Williams provides another fantastic score to the film as well. There are a few minor quibbles as Spielberg can't help but lay his themes on a little too thick, especially in a scene with Katharine Graham walking out of court past a long line of younger women waiting outside, looking on with admiration. Don't get me wrong, I love the strong feminist message within the film and I love that Katharine Graham finally gets her due for her important role as publisher of the Washington Post after basically being ignored in All the Presidents Men, but that moment was just a little too on the nose and spoon fed for me. 

The acting in the film is, as one would expect with this cast, top notch. Meryl Streep leads the group as Katharine Graham, who does a fantastic job portraying her at a very stressful point in her life. She's trying to figure out how to run this newspaper while also learning what it means to take a company public and deal with this huge and controversial news story that could potentially destroy everything. Streep does a wonderful job portraying someone trying to balance all of that and eventually coming to the crucial decision of do they publish the story or not? Tom Hanks is equally great as Ben Bradlee, the managing editor of the newspaper and is anxious to get ahold of the documents and publish them, but also understands the legal quandry that puts them in if they do, something Hanks portrays quite well. Boid Odenkirk has a good turn as reporter Ben Bagdikian and is quite compelling in the role as his character chases down his leads to locate the top secret documents.

As someone who studied Journalism in college, a film like The Post is probably going to hold more appeal for me than some others. Still, it's a fantastically made film that manages to generate suspense from a historical event that many may already know the outcome of, which in itself is pretty impressive. In it's own wonderful, unexpected ways, the film also manages to make itself an equally compelling companion piece to Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men. Something that became all too clear with the film's final shot, if you catch my drift. On it's own though, it may not be essential Spielberg, but it's still very good Spielberg and I can't ask for much more.