1/15/18 - The Post (2017) - 6-/10

A film of import and intention; highlighting the battle with the beast at the gates of freedom, democracy and history. Obviously, it was a film for now, a true Trumpism response, but it felt less organic and more a project of convenience/explicit aim. The story is worthy, the characters solidified by their relevance, and the social meanings behind each element (the power of the press against executive corruption & strength, the plight of women trying to gain a foothold displacing engendered male hierarchy, the portentous predicament of the newspaper industry and its crumbling ability to do its job without strings), it just didn’t excite me. Not boring, but pedestrian for Spielberg. It mostly just provided a solid average film, competently made but without pushing anything or anyone. I saw it, thought it was fine, but can’t imagine every thinking about it or wanting to see it again.

The acting was certainly serviceable, to above average, but I felt they were doing the best they could within a somewhat wooden script/characters. Hanks was low-key boisterous, but at least he carried his screen time. Odenkirk hovered slightly above the grounded reporter character he was made to be, never quite bursting out from where he was supposed to be. Streep by far had the most air under her wings, able to be carried above this material, which she did at times. She was good, with some some smart nuances  of a woman in her position at this time. But, I can’t say she was stand-out amazing. The rest of the cast was ok, never really being given a deep breath to expell into this slumbering giant of a feature.

Few visual flourishes pop in my memory. Similar camera work and editing to previous works, all efficient and applaudable, but the whole doesn’t have the juice. That goes for the dialogue, the score, and the rest. The whole felt like a good looking, highly scouted, highly drafted, “has all the tools” professional athlete who just doesn’t have that “killer instinct” to “win the big one”. It whimpers when it should roar, seemingly just assuming that the fire will come.

It was the germination of an opportune and apropos concept that didn’t seem to flower. Again, it all worked perfectly fine, but each theme and idea was thrust directly in our face. Rarely are we given much smart insinuation or impassioned depth; it is explicitly written on the face of each character, action, word, and film overall. I thought it was perfectly fine, but I think everything about it could have been better. After leaving the movie, it felt more like a great film for high school classroom viewings and less a glorious Oscar contender.