The Post (2017)

A cover-up spanning four U.S. Presidents pushes the country's first female newspaper publisher and her editor to join an unprecedented battle between press and government.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Liz Hannah, Josh Singer

Stars:

Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 110 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meryl Streep	...	Kay Graham
Tom Hanks	...	Ben Bradlee
Sarah Paulson	...	Tony Bradlee
Bob Odenkirk	...	Ben Bagdikian
Tracy Letts	...	Fritz Beebe
Bradley Whitford	...	Arthur Parsons
Bruce Greenwood	...	Robert McNamara
Matthew Rhys	...	Daniel Ellsberg
Alison Brie	...	Lally Graham
Carrie Coon	...	Meg Greenfield
Jesse Plemons	...	Roger Clark
David Cross	...	Howard Simons
Zach Woods	...	Anthony Essaye
Pat Healy	...	Phil Geyelin
John Rue	...	Gene Patterson

Storyline

When American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government's deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Later, Washington Post owner, Kay Graham, is still adjusting to taking over her late husband's business when editor Ben Bradlee discovers the New York Times has scooped them with an explosive expose on those papers. Determined to compete, Post reporters find Ellsberg himself and a complete copy of those papers. However, the Post's plans to publish their findings are put in jeopardy with a Federal restraining order that could get them all indicted for Contempt. Now, Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press. In doing so, Graham and her staff join a fight that would have America's democratic ideals in the balance.

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Plot Keywords:

washington post | journalism | freedom of speech | new york times | freedom of the press | 

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Taglines:

Truth be told

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steven Spielberg directed the first ever episode of Columbo and Matthew Rhys played the murderer in the final episode.

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Goofs

When Bob Haldeman calls Katharine Graham, he tells her that "...we have a bit of an issue here." The colloquial misuse of "issue" to mean "problem" did not begin to become normalized in American English until the late 1980s/early 1990s.

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Quotes

Kay Graham: This is no longer my father's company. It's no longer my husband's company. It's my company.

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Crazy Credits

Dlsclaimer in closing credits: "Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation did not receive any payment or other consideration, or enter into any agreement, for the depiction of tobacco products in this film."

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Connections

Referenced in Everything Wrong with...: Everything Wrong with The Shape of Water (2018)

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Soundtracks

Love Walked In
Written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Performed by The Peter Duchin Orchestra
Arranged by Stanley Schwartz
Produced by Barry Lazarowitz

User Reviews

Stodgy and slipshod Spielbergian historical tribute

Much to my surprise, I found Spielberg's account of the Washington Post's constitutional battle with the Nixon Administration over the Post's audacious and impulsive decision to publish the leaked Pentagon Papers in 1971 to be mildly prosaic and detached. It definitely lacks the raw drama it was obviously angling for and key scenes came across as tentative and sloppy.

Despite an impactful, committed performance by Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post who helped crush gender barriers in journalism and a lively turn by Tom Hanks as the brash and swaggering Ben Bradlee, editor of the Post, this film suffers from a lack of depth and a surprisingly scattershot approach to the story by Spielberg. A viewer would be forgiven for coming away with a flawed understanding of the Pentagon Papers because the film is more about how the Washington Post came into national prominence by defying the White House in publishing documents the government claimed as top secret and vital to U.S. military success in Vietnam.

Some might argue that this film should be watched and evaluated more deliberately but when Spielberg himself rushed through the material and the filmmaking process, it's harder to claim that the viewer has missed something. With this much proven talent on both sides of the camera, haste makes waste. Not recommended.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 2018 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Le post

Filming Locations:

White Plains, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$526,011, 24 December 2017

Gross USA:

$81,903,458

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$179,769,467

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Dreamworks Pictures, Reliance Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 SDDS DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1