Steven Spielberg is such a fine director that he can make you sit on the edge of your seat for the answer to a question you already know. You lived through the exposure of the Pentagon Papers and the ruling of the Supreme Court—as most of the members in the audience did—yet as it comes closer and closer to the outcome you question yourself as to whether you remembered it right!

“The Post” shows that our current President wants to curtail what and which news reports on him, including what reporters, just as President Nixon did when, at first, the New York Times exposed the massive report on the Vietnam War and was challenged by him and brought to the court.

“The Post” tells the story of the Washington Post, whose owner Katherine Graham inherited the paper left to her husband by her father and she became the owner after the former committed suicide. The company is talking about going public and her decision to print the Pentagon Papers, started by the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, a good friend of hers, could bring disgrace to him for continuing the indefensible war, she and her editor played by Tom Hanks could go to prison and the new shares of the company could be worthless.

There is a lot of exposition to be told but Spielberg, along with writers Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, keeps the movie going until the story takes over with the decisions Graham must make, the actual showing how a newspaper is put together from setting the type to getting the paper in bundles and delivered. There is very little time wasted in this 1 hour and 55-minute movie that doesn’t seem even that long!

From Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara, Bob Odenkirk as the Post’s managing editor Ben Bagdikian, Matthew Rhys as Daniel Ellsberg who  leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times  reporter, along with other actors like Tracy Letts, Sarah Paulson, Bradley Whitford, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon among others get their time/moments to shine.

Tom Hanks, as good as he is, fights the memorable Oscar-winning performance of Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee in “All The President’s Men”. I am not particularly a fan of Meryl Streep as I always see her ‘acting’ but in this movie, she becomes Katherine Graham.

“The Post”, in spite of the story, the actors and writers, is a Steven Spielberg movie from beginning to end, who at 70 seems to still have not reached his height yet!

Movie Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlNDKG0CNQw