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THE POSTÂ | FILM REVIEW
****
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks
 (12A, 1hr 56 mins)
An awards-baiting line up if ever there was one. This Steven Spielberg drama takes a look at the uncovering of the Pentagon Papers, and teams two Oscar winners for the first time.
In 1971, the female owner of The Washington Post, Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep), together with executive editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), decided to publish leaked documents that exposed the escalating deaths of US servicemen during the Vietnam War. These leaked documents proved that successive US governments had been lying about the extent of American involvement in Vietnam and the terrible damage it was inflicting on its own troops, plunging the country further into a war that no one really wanted. These Pentagon Papers proved to be instrumental in changing the course of history, casting a spotlight on a cover up in which everyone from Kennedy to Nixon had been involved.
Spielberg keeps events focused on Streep and Hanks as Graham and Bradlee. She is the sole woman in a male world, becoming the head of The Washington Post after her husband’s untimely suicide (which no other character wants to mention). The film hinges on whether she will take the corporate line and refuse to publish the Papers, as the White House demanded she do, or face financial ruin and a potential jail sentence for daring to tell the truth. Hanks is similarly on the line as the bolshie, principled Bradlee who nevertheless may have compromised his values in the past turning a blind eye to his friend John F Kennedy’s excesses.
A superb supporting cast adds heft, with Bradley Whitford a scheming corporate man, warning Streep against any pervasive action. Bob Oedenkirk and David Cross are amongst Hank’s newsroom team, and Bruce Greenwood shines as a politician caught in the midst of the scandal who also happens to be connected to Streep. Matthew Rhys plays the journalist amassing all the dirty secrets, whilst the likes of Sarah Paulson and Carrie Coon play supporting wives and daughters. The Post’s timely subject matters in this Trumpian era of Fake News and its stellar cast tell the story well. It may be a talky procedural film with a few too many ticks from Streep, but it entertains throughout, remaining a gripping history lesson that champions investigative journalism. A lesson that still needs to be heeded.
words Keiron Self
Out now in cinemas.
