No, this isn’t the Postman reboot you’ve been waiting for…
Milo here.
Just a quicky lil summat-sum today, cus I’m feelin’ daring. As you’ll know, the Oscar noms came out a few days ago and, to prepare for an article on that over the weekend, I’ve been cramming in as many of the nominated flicks as possible, bringing us to this ol’ ting.
Boasting the starpower of Spielberg, Streep AND Hanks, it seems like this movie was MADE to be Oscar bait. Telling the true story of The Pentagon Papers being published in the Washington Post, The Post is your general awards-season political-thriller true-story fare, with a plot I have to pay attention to (ugh) and tour-de-force performances from big-ass names.
Cleaning up every award, including Best Staring Contest.
As you can expect, both Hanks and Streep put in some fantastic turns. Though I thought his role was a little small and underused, it’s impossible not to love Tommy boy in everything he’s in. The film was REALLY centered on Streep’s Kay Graham, the first female newspaper publisher. While it’s an important and relevant thing to document, I thought the film’s stressing upon female empowerment felt a little bit forced and advantageous on current events, including the Time’s Up movement. The plot worked on its own as a solid political thriller so squeezing in the subplot of Graham’s to such an extent made it all seem claustrophobic.
That being said, Spielberg’s direction made it all worthwhile as the film’s biggest highlight, with an uncharacteristically intriguing sense of heaviness. Although I found the visual effects to make the film look more 70s (similar to those they used in Mindhunter (i’m pretty sure Vice or someone did a facebook video on it that I watched for 20 seconds and went back to wallowing in self-pity)) were kinda disorientating and not to my taste, the film’s visuals on the whole were very engaging and stylish.
Overall, The Post is expectedly a nice slice of Oscar bait that I can see winning sweeping awards on name value alone, with a slow plot and an atmosphere somewhere in between Frost/Nixon and Spotlight. Regardless, I did enjoy Hanks and Streep’s undeniable screen chemistry and Spielberg’s tried-and-tested directorial goodness.
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73/100
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Lots of hugs, kisses and lacerations
Milo
Stuff and That. 
With all of the films centered on the Vietnam War, it was interesting seeing one that focused on what was going on in the United States at the time. I wouldn’t say The Post is my favorite film of the ones nominated, but it was worth a watch.
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That’s a great perspective to take actually, I didn’t think of it that way. Thanks!
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Came for your thoughts on this Oscar beast, stayed for the staring contest caption. Haha brilliant.
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Awh thanks! I’m secretly very proud of my captioning game… you’re gon’ make me blush!
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Mission accomplished!
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