The Post Review

What a great start it is from Hollywood! Welcome 2018! We have a great beginning with a huge bang from legendary director and screenwriter; the greatness of “JAWS”, “E.T.”, “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” and so many other classics, Steven Spielberg! His newest motion picture… “The Post”!  “The Post” is directed by Steven Spielberg and is starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Bruce Greenwood, Bob Odenkirk, and David Cross.  This gift to us is a very fast pace movie about the events of The Washington Post, in pursuit to catch the New York Times, to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spans three decades and four U.S. Presidents about the Vietnam war. Does “The Post” rise or does it fall with fake news?

Back in early 2017, Steven Spielberg had just finished filming his newest blockbuster “Ready Player One” which is coming out this year, After filming, Spielberg came across the screenplay of “The Post” and was so mesmerized that he quickly jumped at this lifetime opportunity to film and release this story before the end of 2017. He wanted to release it before the Oscar run and also because of  what is currently happening in today’s society. And for that, it makes the film work.

In my opinion, this my favorite of his newest films. I really liked “Bridge of Spies” and “Lincoln” but “The Post” just really spoke to me. It’s not his best film, but it was really good. I guess I just connected to it more because I write for my school newspaper and understand the freedom of speech and press. And what’s going on today, it just made the movie better for me. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep did once again; a wonderful job with portraying their characters. Hank’s role, the Managerial Editor, A.K.A the lead Editor for the Washington Post, and was fantastic! His character was my favorite because of the emotion he showed for the press and for the Washington Post. He cares about the people’s best interest and wants to show the government, you can’t lie or cover up the truth to the public anymore. And with Meryl Streep, it’s almost impossible for her to do a bad job. She was wonderful and did an amazing job playing the owner of The Washington Post. Her character was very unique because of the situation she in. She’s fighting between these real moral dilemmas;  do we go global with the truth or stay as a small paper and be polite to our friends and neighbors?  Her character also stands with today society because of the importance of women’s rights. And lastly, Spielberg did a wonderful job connecting the 70’s with present day. They overlap with each other on the topic of freedom of the press and how we serve the people not those who govern or have power.  Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, but as I said before,… it’s not perfect, but darn good!

The problems with “The Post” is it’s tone, pacing, and first act. In the beginning of the film, you as the audience get tons of facts and backstory that in part,  are really hard to understand what’s going on without history class. Then, after the wave of the history lesson, the film’s pacing drags until the 2nd act. What I mean, it’s kinda boring with the beginning. But after that, the movie flys and becomes a great thriller. And lastly, this film is not for the younger audience or for younger teenagers. This is a movie for older, mature high school scholar and beyond that will truly understand and appreciate “The Post” for what it is. I do worry about if this movie will stand with his other films when times passes. “The Post” worked for today because of the current society and time we live in. But will it still be great when the time passes…?

Overall, this is a wonderful movie and I do encourage you to see “The Post”. You don’t need to rush out and see it as fast as you can. But I do believe that every high school student and lifelong historian should go out and see it before it leaves theaters. My final review for “The Post” is a 8.5 out of 10. It’s only because of the first act that brings down the grade for me. So did you see “The Post” and what did you think about it? Did it rise or did it fall with fake news?  

Photo By: GoldDerby