"The Post"

The biggest director, writer, and producer on the planet, who brought us Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, Munich, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, Lincoln, War Horse, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Super 8, A.I., Gremlins, Back to the Future, The Color Purple, The Goonies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Land Before Time, Hook, Twister, Men in Black, Amistad, The Mask of Zorro, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, Bridge of Spies, The BFG, and Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg, brings us the most unfulfilling period drama ever. I was utterly disappointed by this film. It was one part girl power, though wasn't shown in the trailer I was excited for, one part pure comedy, and one part an accidental prequel to All the President’s Men.

This was not really about The Washington Post defying presidential orders of releasing the Pentagon Papers, it was about Katharine Graham proving to herself, her editor, her board, and the world that she can successfully run a newspaper. During the movie, we see her cast aside several times by her own board, as if she was temporary until they can find a new CEO. But when it came for the ultimate climax for Kay to tell her board what’s what, she says it in the tiniest voice possible and then simply says, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed.” I felt like the movie was running and then it tripped at the finish line. It was close, and yet it was so far. Let me remind you that this is Meryl f*cking Streep, 21 time Academy Award nominee, 3 time Academy Award winner, last year’s recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, and this is the best she can do. Apparently. In a time when we need girl power movies, we get an old geezer who stands up to older geezers and then she returns to being an old geezer admiring the printing papers.

The one part of pure comedy is the fact that they cast Bob Odenkirk in the film. And they couldn’t be too off brand of Better Call Saul as his character runs down to a phone booth to talk to his informant. That’s all he is.

This movie makes it more infuriating by trying to give the audience one last laugh as we watch the silhouette of President Nixon screaming into the phone to never let anyone from The Washington Post into the White House again only to see someone reporting the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, ultimately becoming a prequel to a far better movie, written by the guys who did it. This movie relied too hard on the audience to get it. If you actually lived through it, which that number is rapidly depleting, or you read about it, a smaller number, or seen the movie, an even smaller number, you may have a had a chuckle or two.

I believe this was only hailed as brilliant and was in the running for the Academy Awards because of how much star power it had both in front and behind the camera. But, boiled down, it was basically how a middle-aged man working a tasking job is caring for his ailing “mother” in a difficult time. When it was nominated for six Golden Globes, host Seth Meyers had a joke where one of the ladies brought out all the awards for the film during the monologue, but, in a shocking turn of events, The Post walked away empty-handed; the same at the Academy Awards.

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Released On: January 18, 2018
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Bob Odenkirk
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.2/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Picture - Nominated
• Best Actress Meryl Streep - Nominated

Golden Globe Awards

• Best Actor Motion Picture Drama Tom Hanks - Nominated
• Best Actress Motion Picture Drama Meryl Streep - Nominated
• Best Director Steven Spielberg - Nominated
• Best Motion Picture Drama - Nominated
• Best Original Score John Williams - Nominated
• Best Screenplay Liz Hannah & Josh Singer - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for "The Post")