Post by Rob W. Case on Apr 18, 2018 18:44:17 GMT -6
The Story:
The movie opens in 1966, during the Vietnam War. At the Hau Nghia Province in South Vietnam, we meet a military analyst named Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys), who is observing and compiling information regarding the war’s progress, since President Johnson increased the number of troops to help the war effort. Ellsberg concludes that nothing has changed, and when he explains this to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood), McNamara takes it as news that things have gotten worse. After McNamara’s plane lands, he is met by a press pool who asks him if the efforts have left him optimistic or pessimistic about the United States’ prospects in the region. McNamara tells the press that the “efforts have exceeded our expectations” and that “we are very encouraged by what we’re seeing in Vietnam.” He then tells them “in every respect, we’re making progress.” Ellsberg hears what McNamara tells the press and is disturbed by it. Ellsberg then goes into the filing cabinet of the Rand Corporation (the company he works for) and takes with him highly classified, top secret documents concerning the Vietnam war and has them copied. It is revealed in these papers the details of the United States’ political and military involvement in Vietnam beginning with the Truman administration, proceeding under Eisenhower, advancing under Kennedy, and then escalated under Johnson.
Fast forward to 1971:
It is at this point we meet Katharine “Kay” Graham, (Meryl Streep), the heir to The Washington Post newspaper (which was owned by her father, left to her husband, and then inherited by her after her husband committed suicide) who is preparing the paper “to go public” (opening up investment opportunities to the rest of the country). Knowing that such a step requires stepping everything up in terms of quality, footwork, and the demands of expansion, Graham consults with her corporate & estate lawyer Fritz Bebe (Tracy Letts) who basically takes her vision for the paper to a group of investment bankers. While the components on the business side is being developed, Kay meets with her managing editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), an aggressively determined and stubborn “go getter” about the Washington Post being barred from covering Trisha Nixon’s wedding. Refusing to take no for an answer, he pursues the story regardless, yet senses something really big by a reporter at the New York Times. In utilizing his resources, he finds that some of the Pentagon papers, regarding what has been kept secret about the Vietnam war has been published.
The bombshell of the Pentagon Papers creates an enormous firestorm of controversy and legal issues, and it doesn’t end there. The Nixon administration jumps in, and an injunction (restraining order) is placed on the New York Times from publishing anything further, citing any further publication a risk to national security. Now, it is up to the Washington Post, the strenuous efforts of Ben Bradlee, and the decision by Kay to go through with risking everything to publish the papers and bring the truth to the American people.
My Take:
One of the things I found intriguing about this movie was the amount of drama involved. It kind of comes off as a political thriller in some ways when you really think about the weight of everything involved, and how the stakes can be raised to immeasurable degrees based on a decision. Taking the risk to reveal the hidden truth, even if it reveals top secret information, can deeply affect and change everything around you. The impact of the revelation of what the Pentagon papers revealed not only had the power to change public opinion, but it also had the power to get the publishers in deep trouble with the federal government. In addition to this level of drama, there are also some dynamics of bias and how it affects our main characters. There is a scene in the movie where Kay and Ben see how their personal friendships (Kay’s friendship with Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara and Ben’s close friendship with John F. Kennedy, for example) blinded them completely from asking those in charge of the country the hard questions in regards to the necessity, or lack thereof, in being so involved in Vietnam, much less dealing with the ramifications, whether potential (like say, if Kay’s son got killed in the war) or consequential that it had. There are many compelling dynamics to contemplate while watching this movie, and that is what made it interesting to me. And so, if you have an interest in politics, government affairs, and journalism, and how they can clash, this is a movie for you. What I also found kind of interesting (and a little creepy) was that Nixon kind of “played himself” in this movie, in that the audio was really of him, taken from the “Nixon White House tapes”.
Out of 4 stars, I give the Post 3 stars.
The Post is rated PG-13 and runs 1 hour and 57 minutes.
To view a trailer for the movie, please click on the “Play” button below.
The Post is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, and is available to watch on Amazon streaming.
The Post is also available to rent at Redbox kiosk machines everywhere.
The movie opens in 1966, during the Vietnam War. At the Hau Nghia Province in South Vietnam, we meet a military analyst named Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys), who is observing and compiling information regarding the war’s progress, since President Johnson increased the number of troops to help the war effort. Ellsberg concludes that nothing has changed, and when he explains this to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood), McNamara takes it as news that things have gotten worse. After McNamara’s plane lands, he is met by a press pool who asks him if the efforts have left him optimistic or pessimistic about the United States’ prospects in the region. McNamara tells the press that the “efforts have exceeded our expectations” and that “we are very encouraged by what we’re seeing in Vietnam.” He then tells them “in every respect, we’re making progress.” Ellsberg hears what McNamara tells the press and is disturbed by it. Ellsberg then goes into the filing cabinet of the Rand Corporation (the company he works for) and takes with him highly classified, top secret documents concerning the Vietnam war and has them copied. It is revealed in these papers the details of the United States’ political and military involvement in Vietnam beginning with the Truman administration, proceeding under Eisenhower, advancing under Kennedy, and then escalated under Johnson.
Fast forward to 1971:
It is at this point we meet Katharine “Kay” Graham, (Meryl Streep), the heir to The Washington Post newspaper (which was owned by her father, left to her husband, and then inherited by her after her husband committed suicide) who is preparing the paper “to go public” (opening up investment opportunities to the rest of the country). Knowing that such a step requires stepping everything up in terms of quality, footwork, and the demands of expansion, Graham consults with her corporate & estate lawyer Fritz Bebe (Tracy Letts) who basically takes her vision for the paper to a group of investment bankers. While the components on the business side is being developed, Kay meets with her managing editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), an aggressively determined and stubborn “go getter” about the Washington Post being barred from covering Trisha Nixon’s wedding. Refusing to take no for an answer, he pursues the story regardless, yet senses something really big by a reporter at the New York Times. In utilizing his resources, he finds that some of the Pentagon papers, regarding what has been kept secret about the Vietnam war has been published.
The bombshell of the Pentagon Papers creates an enormous firestorm of controversy and legal issues, and it doesn’t end there. The Nixon administration jumps in, and an injunction (restraining order) is placed on the New York Times from publishing anything further, citing any further publication a risk to national security. Now, it is up to the Washington Post, the strenuous efforts of Ben Bradlee, and the decision by Kay to go through with risking everything to publish the papers and bring the truth to the American people.
My Take:
One of the things I found intriguing about this movie was the amount of drama involved. It kind of comes off as a political thriller in some ways when you really think about the weight of everything involved, and how the stakes can be raised to immeasurable degrees based on a decision. Taking the risk to reveal the hidden truth, even if it reveals top secret information, can deeply affect and change everything around you. The impact of the revelation of what the Pentagon papers revealed not only had the power to change public opinion, but it also had the power to get the publishers in deep trouble with the federal government. In addition to this level of drama, there are also some dynamics of bias and how it affects our main characters. There is a scene in the movie where Kay and Ben see how their personal friendships (Kay’s friendship with Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara and Ben’s close friendship with John F. Kennedy, for example) blinded them completely from asking those in charge of the country the hard questions in regards to the necessity, or lack thereof, in being so involved in Vietnam, much less dealing with the ramifications, whether potential (like say, if Kay’s son got killed in the war) or consequential that it had. There are many compelling dynamics to contemplate while watching this movie, and that is what made it interesting to me. And so, if you have an interest in politics, government affairs, and journalism, and how they can clash, this is a movie for you. What I also found kind of interesting (and a little creepy) was that Nixon kind of “played himself” in this movie, in that the audio was really of him, taken from the “Nixon White House tapes”.
Out of 4 stars, I give the Post 3 stars.
The Post is rated PG-13 and runs 1 hour and 57 minutes.
To view a trailer for the movie, please click on the “Play” button below.
The Post is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, and is available to watch on Amazon streaming.
The Post is also available to rent at Redbox kiosk machines everywhere.