Saturday, February 10, 2018

The Post Reminds Audiences Why Hanks, Streep, and Spielberg Are Still The Best In The Business

The 2017 award season has arrived and with it comes it's batch of movies released with the hope of garnering some major awards recognition, particularly from The Golden Globes and Oscars. One of the films that managed to find good fortune during awards season and ended up as being one of the 2018 Best Picture Oscar nominees for Best Picture is Steven Spielberg's The Post. Starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, The Post is a period piece drama that essentially shows the fight to tell the truth to millions of Americans, and the realization that telling the truth is much harder than it is writing it. While Spielberg is particularly known for his iconic spectacle pieces such as Jaws, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List, and Saving Private Ryan, he also carves out quieter and well put together human dramas whether historical pieces or telling a more personal story. The Post is a unique opportunity for Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep to all showcase their respective talents as well as remind audiences, that they are the best in the business and can still prove to be a terrific trio when they all work together.


      The Post is a character driven and well-written historical piece, that puts characters and story first before anything else. The story for The Post centers around a cover-up, that spanned a total of four U.S Presidents regarding the War with Vietnam. The cover-up pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher as well as a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between the press and the government. With The Post, Hanks delivers another strong performance even if it feels as if Meryl Streep outweighs him with her performance as her characters arc is the heart of the story. Streep brings a sense of professionalism to her roles, that always makes them feel special. There hasn't been a time one can recall where her performances did not feel like she was giving her all. Hanks and Spielberg continue to prove that they are one of Hollywood's most ideal dream teams with their collaborations bringing forth some well received dramas such as Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, and The Bridge Of Spies. Audiences know by now that when these two are paired together on a project, there's a good chance the end result will be a stellar project. Spielberg directs the film with restraint, allowing the actors freedom to play their characters to their full potential and let the drama unfold. With Spielberg directing the story, he makes the audience feel as if they are in the room with these characters and witnessing the struggle in regards to releasing The Pentagon Papers to the public.


       As far as The Posts technical aspects go, the film is beautiful to look at thanks to its grand Cinematography as well as the films Costume Design and Art-Set Decoration. John Williams, whose been a frequent collaborator with Spielberg since his early days as a director does a fine job with keeping an effective yet low-key score that hits home at the right moments. The editing is perfect giving the movie a tight pacing, that doesnt make it feel too slow but also doesn't move too fast either. The big speeches delivered throughout the film whether by Hanks or Streep not only are key moments, but also help glue the films story together with audio from Richard Nixon being used in a couple of scenes but is effective, especially near the end. The films opening scene in Vietnam gives the film a 70s Apocalypse Now feel, giving audiences the impession that they are watching a different type of film before fast-forwarding into a newspaper drama thats essentially a champion for freedom of speech. Spielberg has stated in recent interviews that he made The Post with a sense of urgency in regards to today's political climate regarding the attack on the media by the current administration as well as what people deem to be reality or "fake news". Watching The Post, one totally gets the vibe that Spielberg was directing the story with parallels being drawn between the timeframe in the movie as well as today's world.


        The Post deserves its stature as being one of the strongest movies of the year to qualify for recognition by the Oscars, especially Meryl Streep in her terrific as usual lead actress performance as a first female newspaper publisher struggling to handle her job position that's heavily male dominated, and fighting to get the truth unveiled regarding massive government cover-ups regarding the Vietnam War. Streep role was not only well deserving of its Oscar nomination, but also how her character is inspirational to women in other job positions struggling to maintain their job titles. The Post is unquestionably one of the years best movies and reaffirms Spielbergs status as being one of the greatest filmmakers alive as he can take the source material and craft an absorbing historical drama, that ended up being a triumph for the newspaper. What was used as an obvious marketing tool to put Spielberg, Hanks, and Streep together for the project proved to be a great strategy as it pays off with the three household names doing fantastic jobs. Spielberg Succeeds in crafting a story, that celebrates a newspapers right to conduct free speech as well as uncover hidden truths within the government. Hearing Nixon's final audio that revealed his disdain for The Washington Post is chilling as it mirrors the conflict between today's media outlets and the current political atmosphere. The Post comes with a timely message that says the press is tasked with serving the governed, not the governing, and that the people deserve to always be told the truth. However revealing the truth to the public can be it's own battle to do so. The film just serves as further proof that Spielberg, Hanks. and Streep when joined together can still tell a solid story. One of the best movies of the year.

                                                                                                              Final Verdict: SEE IT


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