The Post has the star power but a story we've heard
In today's world of politics and news cycles challenging the government, you may wonder how it all began. The Post follows the rise of the Washington Post from a small paper to the leading news source out of Washington DC. This film has star power in front and behind the camera - and it shows.
The Post is led by two powerhouse performances in Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks at odds with each other on publishing government documents about the war in Vietnam. Hanks plays the editor in chief at the paper while Streep plays the part of its owner and plans on taking the company public on the New York Stock Exchange. Tom Hanks is in peak performance and drives most of the film into each controversy by trying to uphold the first amendment in freedom of the press. Meryl Streep is a shark throughout the film, biding her time to the end where she gives a stirring speech to rally the final decision of the film. The gem here is that because they bring so much to The Post, it elevates everyone's performance around them and forces everybody to act on their level. It really shows as nobody lacks and everyone pushes in each scene to drive the film forward.
Steven Spielberg directs, another historical drama following War Horse and Lincoln. It definitely looks and feels like a recent Spielberg film which is a good and bad thing. When everyone brings their A-game, does it elevate the film or only yield higher expectations out of everyone involved? That's the problem The Post runs into; everything is great, but feels average for the people involved. Not only that but this film comes out after the Academy Award winner Spotlight which delved into investigative journalism and The Post falls short of the huge stakes that made that film a winner. The drama is there, but doesn't feel elevated to dire circumstances and that makes the film fall short of being spectacular.
While The Post shows how the Washington Post came to hold high importance in today's world, the film itself won't hold any significance in the future. It feels very average for everybody involved even though they bring their best. You leave feeling wanting more out of everybody involved although they are at the top of their game.
- Mike