A post about The Post

I finally got around to seeing The Post today.

I've never been a huge Spielberg fan, and there are lot of his older movies that I've never seen because I know I wouldn't care for them. I did want to see this one, though, because of the buzz it's getting, and because it looked interesting.

I really enjoyed it, I'll just say up front. Streep and Hanks were perfectly cast, along with all of the supporting players, like Deidre Lovejoy and Sarah Paulson. It tended to drag a bit in a couple of places--you would expect a movie like this to develop slowly, but sometimes it was a tad too slow. I think a big part of that was a reluctance by the editors to cut any dialog between Hanks and Streep.

Which is understandable, but still, it could have used a little trimming. Not much, just a little.

It poses some difficult questions--like, if you're a journalist who is dear, close friends with a powerful politician, at what point does that politician become "former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara" instead of your long-time buddy, Bob.

Even more--what if you find out that your dear friend is in on something that you find repugnant and, if he weren't  your close friend Bob you wouldn't hesitate to at least look into it with an eye towards writing about it?

Then there's the whole "freedom of the press" issue, which has been becoming relevant yet again.

There were still a couple of what I consider Spielberg moments--the ending, in particular, is done in the way that he likes to do his endings and I find it overdone and unsubtle. But I enjoyed the movie so much I can forgive him here.

I'll give it a B+, and look for Streep and Hanks to get nominations this year. Go see it. It's a fascinating story, and well worth your time.