Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood and Matthew Rhys. Written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Running time 116 minutes. Budget $50 million.
Starring
Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob odenkirk, Tracy Letts,
Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys and David Cross.
Written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Budget $50 million. Running time 116 minutes. Cert 12.
Thanks to the imminent arrival of the Oscars we, as loyal cinema goers, tend to get a lot of Oscar worthy movies at this time of the season compared to the rest of the year. Indeed film mags are crammed full of 4 and 5 star review movies and naturally The Post is one such movie. Directed by a true Hollywood legend, scored by another (John Williams) and starring not one but two members of Hollywood royalty this has Oscar written all over its stupid face. But is it any good?
The Post is a direct prequel to the insanely superb 1976 film All The President's Men, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. The film follows two main characters, Meryl Streep's Katharine Graham and Tom Hank's Bob Bradless the newspaper's editor in chief as they struggle with not only floating the family newspaper on the stock market (that's Meryl's dilema) but also with the thorny problem of what to do with a vast leak of top secret government documents about the Vietnam War that show not only its utter futility but also that the American people have been lied to for the past 30 years!
What follows is a masterclass in acting from two of Hollywood's greatest living actors who show off their skills in a sort of actor showcase. For me personally Tom Hanks just pips Meryl at the post, she's a tad too earnest and also falls back on her tried and trusted acting tricks, like tilting her head to one side, whilst smiling and whispering nearly all her lines, that's when she's not making that haughty little titter of hers. The thing is she's such a damn good actress that she can even hit the same mark again and again, even with a change of camera, there's one scene with a cut and she's looking off camera in both takes. Indeed, she's so skilled that you actually become aware of the fact she's acting and that somewhat spoils the illusion. Hanks on the other hand just blitzes his role and does it with real ease and skill. Of the two actors, Meryl is on the screen for longer and has a great deal more to do and she does do her job with real skill and craft, but for me there was just too much craft on show, while with Hanks, I'm just reminded with each passing film that he is this generations Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant rolled into one.
This was a meaty, satisfying film that made me want to rewatch All the President's Men.
This made for a good night out, only marred by the lack of car chases, gun fights and naked ladies, so thank goodness the film was as entertaining as it was.
8/10
Thanks to the imminent arrival of the Oscars we, as loyal cinema goers, tend to get a lot of Oscar worthy movies at this time of the season compared to the rest of the year. Indeed film mags are crammed full of 4 and 5 star review movies and naturally The Post is one such movie. Directed by a true Hollywood legend, scored by another (John Williams) and starring not one but two members of Hollywood royalty this has Oscar written all over its stupid face. But is it any good?
The Post is a direct prequel to the insanely superb 1976 film All The President's Men, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. The film follows two main characters, Meryl Streep's Katharine Graham and Tom Hank's Bob Bradless the newspaper's editor in chief as they struggle with not only floating the family newspaper on the stock market (that's Meryl's dilema) but also with the thorny problem of what to do with a vast leak of top secret government documents about the Vietnam War that show not only its utter futility but also that the American people have been lied to for the past 30 years!
What follows is a masterclass in acting from two of Hollywood's greatest living actors who show off their skills in a sort of actor showcase. For me personally Tom Hanks just pips Meryl at the post, she's a tad too earnest and also falls back on her tried and trusted acting tricks, like tilting her head to one side, whilst smiling and whispering nearly all her lines, that's when she's not making that haughty little titter of hers. The thing is she's such a damn good actress that she can even hit the same mark again and again, even with a change of camera, there's one scene with a cut and she's looking off camera in both takes. Indeed, she's so skilled that you actually become aware of the fact she's acting and that somewhat spoils the illusion. Hanks on the other hand just blitzes his role and does it with real ease and skill. Of the two actors, Meryl is on the screen for longer and has a great deal more to do and she does do her job with real skill and craft, but for me there was just too much craft on show, while with Hanks, I'm just reminded with each passing film that he is this generations Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant rolled into one.
This was a meaty, satisfying film that made me want to rewatch All the President's Men.
This made for a good night out, only marred by the lack of car chases, gun fights and naked ladies, so thank goodness the film was as entertaining as it was.
8/10
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