The Latest from Spielberg: “The Post”

Steven Spielberg’s latest film “The Post” is one of the most pleasantly surprising movies I’ve seen in the past five years. My hopes for this movie were fairly low. The newest Spielberg movie I’ve seen is “War Horse,” which was pretty terrible. It is easily the most tonally inconsistent film I’ve ever seen. The biggest problem with that film is the script. Everything else is done masterfully, or in the case of the actors who had to deliver some really awful lines, they did their best. I’d give it a 5. Plus, “The Post” is loosely known as Spielberg’s “rush job,” and that is a fact. Once he saw the script for this, he suspended post production on “Ready Player One,” and got to work on “The Post”. And it is a great biographical movie. It’s not “Schindler’s List,” but it’s a step up from Spielberg’s latest work from the past 6 years.

“The Post” is shot very unlike a Spielberg movie, and I personally thought it fit beautifully. It takes you aback a little, and if nobody had told you that this was a Spielberg film you might’ve thought it was some other great director. But during the moments where this movie was more intense, it was handheld, and during the time when it was slower it was fixed. It looked excellent, and Spielberg shot with real film, God bless him, and it was a nice touch.

This film was perfectly cast, which is vital for a film that the director wants to finish production quickly, as these are actors you know will get the job done quickly and well. I don’t get why people said Meryl Streep was “disappointing.” Her performance wasn’t masterful, but if you expect every performance a great actor/actress gives to be life changing, then, of course, you’re going to be disappointed. Everyone was good. Moving on.

“The Post” is one of the most mismarketed movies I know of. The trailers didn’t do anything wrong, but what a lot of people in the media want you to believe is that this is the movie that will change the world, and shame men because they suck, and women will not be held down etc. The clip that was brought to the Ellen DeGeneres Show when Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep were guests, was the one time when Hanks’ character (Ben) told Streep’s character (Kat) to stay out of his business. Which doesn’t make any sense, seeing that Kat is Ben’s boss! It’s not that I don’t support movements like Me Too or Time’s Up, because there’s been a lot of very brave women to come out about these atrocities against them and I have a lot of empathy for them (“This aggression will not stand, man!”). What annoys me about what happens when any movement becomes famous, is that it’s later used for promotion by the media if some sort of entertainment even relates to what’s going on in the world. Fortunately, not everyone did what Ellen did. Still, it is in no way right for anyone to turn what these women have done into a marketing technique. I do not care who you are. Either way, “The Post” is beyond that. This film is subtle and smart. The main character is a woman in charge of a company with a staff of men and women working together through the whole film. It’s awesome. My favorite scene is actually when Kat standing up for herself in front of the board and making her final decision. (Without spoiling anything) She tells them what she thinks, reminds them that she is in charge, and goes to bed.That’s the whole point of realistic dialogue. It’s not preachy, because it says it all in the scene.

Films don’t need multiple speeches and obvious dialogue. Your audience can learn through the story, and the conversations had throughout. And if your film happens to not be dialogue driven, then the visuals and/or story progression will make your film great (if done well). There’s a couple bits at the end where it’s not as subtle, and (surprise, surprise!) it was mildly annoying. If there’s any advice I could give on screenwriting, it’s that a little subtlety will get you a long way. That is something that constantly proves itself right again and again.

9.2 out of 10