Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Liz Hannah and Josh Singer
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys
Running Time: 116 minutes
Genre: Drama, thriller
In 1971, the struggling Washington Post newspaper is owned by heiress Katherine Graham (Streep) with editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (Hanks). Graham has inherited the paper following the suicide of her husband, and has severe doubts as to her ability to run a paper, while Bradlee constantly sees the paper being left behind by other, larger newspapers, and is determined to break a big story. When they become aware of a leak of thousands of pages of Top Secret documents from the Pentagon relating to America's involvement in the Vietnam war (the so-called "Pentagon Papers"), they are forced to decide whether or not to publish, even if it means severe consequences.
Based on a true story, this is definitely part of the "newspaper drama" subgenre, full of serious looking people running around corridors with files and large boxes, chattering typewriters, bustling newsrooms and stirring speeches about the integrity of the press. Apparently the film was made while Spielberg was waiting for the special effects to be completed for Ready Player One (2018). The echoes with current events cannot be ignored, at a time when the press and the veracity of news seems to be constantly under fire, this is a film about why journalists and editors cannot allow themselves to be bullied by governments and politicians. The villain of the piece is then-President Richard Nixon who appears very briefly seen from the back through the White House windows, ranting and growling threats. It's an intriguing film, which tells an interesting and relevant story with a real sense of urgency. The performances are excellent, especially from Meryl Streep, who plays someone who is kind of in both camps. She is someone who is very much part of the Washington establishment, she is friends with many of the politicians, many of whose careers, as she well knows, will be ruined by the publication of the Pentagon Papers. She is also someone who is perpetually patronised, overlooked and belittled by people who are technically her employees. An early scene shows her at a board meeting where the all-male board talk over her, ignore her and sometimes repeat exactly what she's just said.
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