'The Post' is least successful when it鈥檚 glorying in its own righteousness
Most movies coming out of Hollywood this year have been determinedly apolitical. Not so with Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淭he Post.鈥� Ostensibly it鈥檚 about The Washington Post and its battles with the Nixon White House, and alongside with The New York Times, over the right to publish the Pentagon Papers. But clearly this freedom-of-the-press clarion call is also intended to resonate in the Trump era. Spielberg, who rushed the film into production, has stated, 鈥淚 could not believe the similarities between today and what happened with the Nixon administration against their avowed enemies The New York Times and The Washington Post. I realized this was the only year to make this film.鈥�
As is true of most movies about 鈥渋mportant鈥� topics, 鈥淭he Post鈥� is least successful when it鈥檚 glorying in its own righteousness. If the movie has any shelf life beyond the current historical moment, I suspect it will be because of Meryl Streep鈥檚 performance as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. Her genius for emotional nuance continually undercuts the movie鈥檚 grandstanding.
When 鈥淭he Post鈥� begins, Graham is arranging for the family-owned paper, which was passed along to her in 1963 after her husband committed suicide, to go public in order to avoid bankruptcy. Executive editor Ben Bradlee, portrayed by Tom Hanks with enough gruff charisma to make us (almost) forget Jason Robards in 鈥淎ll the President鈥檚 Men,鈥� is chafing at the White House鈥檚 decision to bar his reporters from covering Tricia Nixon鈥檚 wedding. He wants to lift the paper out of its regional rut and go up against the Times with something big.
This turns out to be the Pentagon Papers, the voluminous secret documents 鈥� leaked in 1971 by Daniel Ellsberg first to the Times, and then, when a court injunction halted publication, to the Post 鈥� outlining three decades of lies and coverups employed by four presidents to justify the American involvement in Vietnam, a war that many, including former secretary of Defense and Graham鈥檚 good friend Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood), privately thought unwinnable.聽
The film proceeds on parallel, often intersecting tracks as both an old-
fashioned newspaper movie, full of scoops and skulduggery, and a movie about a society matron with no real business experience, who, as the first female publisher of a major newspaper, finds herself at the forefront of a major test of the First Amendment before the Supreme Court. Disparaged or ignored even by her own top business associates 鈥� all men 鈥� she finds her voice and, as Streep has described it in interviews, quoting Nora Ephron, becomes 鈥渢he heroine of [her] life.鈥� In the movie鈥檚 terms, Graham finding her own voice is tantamount to the United States finding its own voice.
If all this sounds pat, that鈥檚 because Spielberg and his writers, Liz Hannah and Josh Singer (who co-wrote 鈥淪potlight鈥�), have made it so. The newspaper鈥檚 machinations are presented with dogged diligence. When Graham, conquering her fear of causing the paper to collapse and facing possible jail time, gives the go-ahead to publish the Pentagon Papers, you can practically hear the newsroom cry out, 鈥淪tart the presses!鈥澛�
We鈥檝e seen enough better-than-decent newspaper dramas by now, most recently 鈥淪potlight,鈥� to expect a bit more from Spielberg. As is often true with him when he tackles a historical subject 鈥� think 鈥淏ridge of Spies鈥� or 鈥淟incoln鈥� 鈥� he tamps down his cinematic flair in the service of what he clearly perceives as a higher calling.聽
In the case of 鈥淭he Post,鈥� that calling is nothing less than championing a free press in Trump World. The film is saying that there is nothing fake about the news in the Post 鈥� then or now. And the fact that 鈥淭he Post鈥� is essentially a prequel to 鈥淎ll the President鈥檚 Men鈥� is likewise intended as a cautionary warning shot to the Trump administration.
You can sympathize, as I certainly do, with the sentiments behind this free press posture and still resist the movie鈥檚 self-
congratulatory tone. In the film鈥檚 closing minutes, do we really need to see a gaggle of women gazing adoringly at a victorious Graham as she descends the steps of the Supreme Court? 聽
As a matter of fairness, one could also argue that the film鈥檚 heavily skewed emphasis on those unlikely soul mates, Graham and Bradlee, undervalues the primary role that the reporters, not to mention Ellsberg, played in the battle. Their courageous work made her courageous decision possible.聽
But there is no arguing with Streep鈥檚 performance. In inexorable increments, she transforms what might have been just another feminist standard-bearer into something far more complex. Her hesitations, rue, and ultimate valor are soul-deep. Graham鈥檚 victory over her fears does not come lightly, but when it does, it鈥檚 definitive. Grade: B (Rated PG-13 for language and brief war violence.)
