By Megan Bianco
One week into 2018 and we finally get a wide release of one of the most anticipated period pieces of this awards season: Steven Spielberg’s The Post. Directed by one of our finest living filmmakers and starring two screen legends, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, the film comes at a time when we’re being reminded that the fight for freedom of the press has been a long fight in our country’s history.
Back in 1971, local D.C. newspaper The Washington Post was in a rivalry with The New York Times to get the best scoops about the Nixon administration and the Vietnam War. The Post’s publisher Katharine Graham (Streep) is in her own battle to be taken seriously by her board and her hard-as-nails editor, Ben Bradlee (Hanks), has to prove he’s the right man to lead the paper. But there finally might be a turning point when someone begins leaking secrets on the war to both papers.
Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Paulson, Alison Brie and Bob Odenkirk make up some of the supporting cast of familiar faces. The Post is a perfect example of a film that fits the definition of “solid.” Everything from Spielberg’s direction to the performances to John Williams’ trademark score to the aesthetics is fine and what you’d expect from everyone. But it’s nothing incredibly groundbreaking. The themes are, of course, being compared to current events, and the release date does make the similarity a bit on the nose. But still, Spielberg’s latest film would work well for fans as a spiritual sequel to his 2015 hit, Bridge of Spies.
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