YES! Weekly YES! Weekly
  • News
  • Food & Drink
  • Music
  • The Arts
  • Education
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Film
  • Local & Live
  • Photos
  • Calendar
  • Donate
  • Contact
Go to...

    Breaking News

    • Venezuela alleges Greensboro company transported
    • Stone Temple Pilots to headline
    • Greensboro City Council considers enforcing
    • Crime Stoppers Reward Increase for
    • CHRIS STAPLETON CONFIRMS 2019 “ALL-AMERICAN
    Home»Film » Full-court press: Spielberg vs. The White House

    Full-court press: Spielberg vs. The White House

    YesWeekly
    January 17, 2018
    Film, Opinion
    Comments Off on Full-court press: Spielberg vs. The White House
    Views : 1458
    0
    Full-court press: Spielberg vs. The White House

    By: Matt Brunson

    In these turbulent and trying times, a timid and largely ineffectual media is par for the course, feigning acts of hard-hitting journalism when maintaining some measure of the status quo is what’s really taking place. (Latest of many cases in point: Even with that offensive “shithole” comment added to countless other affronts, the major mainstream outlets still refuse to directly call that Cretin-in-Chief Trump a racist, couching his vileness in less threatening terms like “racially tinged” and “controversial.”) Three cheers, then, for Steven Spielberg’s The Post, which not only recalls a more honest, more efficient and more courageous period for the American newspaper but also serves as a throwing down of the gauntlet for the modern counterpart.

    The Post may not match the brilliance of 1976’s All the President’s Men, but it still serves as a potent reminder of the potential power of the press. As with that look at the Watergate scandal and the toppling of a U.S. president, this one also involves the Washington Post and editor Ben Bradlee. Jason Robards won an Oscar for portraying Bradlee in All the President’s Men; Tom Hanks probably won’t enjoy comparable awards glory, but he’s nevertheless excellent in the role, seen ordering his troops to find out what bombshell the New York Times planned to explode on its cover in June 1971. It turns out to be some of the pages of the Pentagon Papers, leaked by analyst and activist Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) to alert the nation to the lies spun by several administrations regarding the Vietnam War. Once the Nixon White House manages to obtain a temporary court injunction against the Times, preventing it from publishing any more pages, Bradlee sees this as the Post’s opportunity to pick up the baton. But to do so, he needs the approval and authorization of Post publisher Katharine “Kay” Graham (Meryl Streep), already in the spotlight as the sole female boss of a major American newspaper.

    Armed with a stellar screenplay by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, Spielberg responds by serving up his best picture in 15 years. Clearly energized by the urgency and import of the piece, the director has fashioned an engrossing film that functions as both a historical record (with the usual allowances for Hollywood embellishments, of course) and a cautionary tale. He’s backed in his zeal by a note-perfect cast — Streep and Hanks, of course, but also a supporting line-up that runs especially deep. Particularly of note are Tracy Letts (also terrific in Lady Bird) as Fritz Beebe, Graham’s sensible friend and advisor, Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk as Ben Bagdikian, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who became Ellsberg’s Post liaison, and Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara, the former Secretary of Defense who’s seen as both combative and morally compromised.

    In an awards season in which most of the players are either cutting-edge endeavors or indie darlings, The Post seems comparatively old-fashioned in its content and its execution. That’s hardly a criticism, though. Blessed with veterans on both sides of the camera, here’s a classically trained piece that manages to be both robust and rousing.

    Planes, Trains and Automobiles might be the name of a beloved John Hughes flick from the 1980s, but it’s also Liam Neeson’s preferred modes of transportation en route to dispatching various baddies with bone-crunching determination. Under the watchful eye of director Jaume Collet-Serra, Neeson has taken to cars in Unknown, an airplane in Non-Stop, and now a locomotive in The Commuter. (In their joint offering Run All Night, the actor was content just to hoof it.)

    In The Commuter, Neeson plays Michael MacCauley, a former cop who has spent the past decade working as an insurance salesman. Unexpectedly losing his job, Michael’s in a vulnerable state, which largely explains why, on his train ride home, he accepts a mysterious offer from a complete stranger (Vera Farmiga): Locate a certain person on the train and earn an easy $100,000. Michael takes the bait, but once he realizes that the individual he’s expected to expose is being targeted for assassination, he spends the rest of the commute trying to figure out how to thwart the killers.

    The January-February stretch of any new year is often a dumping ground for the studios’ tax write-offs, but that’s clearly not the case when it comes to Liam Neeson action vehicles — here, it’s a matter of strategic scheduling, as most have tended to do quite well at the box office against limp competition. The Commuter similarly gets the job done, with Neeson’s committed performance providing a strong center to an increasingly outlandish storyline. The identity of the “surprise” villain was obvious before the script was even written (and the way he trips himself up is daft beyond compare), and late innings find Neeson’s Everyman engaged in death-defying activities that would give even Superman pause. But for those looking for a reasonably satisfying mix of mystery and muscle, The Commuter should be just the ticket.

    Tags : All The President's men, American newspaper, film review, journalism, Kay Graham, Meryl Streep, newspaper, Pentagon Paper, Pentagon Papers, President Nixon, President Trump, press, Steven Spielberg, The Commuter, The Post, the press, Tom Hanks, White House
    Share :
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Pinterest
    • Linkedin
    • Email
    UNCSA graduate Summer Shelton nominated for prestigious prize
    Next article
    UNCSA graduate Summer Shelton nominated for prestigious prize
    Greensboro-based songwriter Gar Clemens releases new record
    Previous article
    Greensboro-based songwriter Gar Clemens releases new record

    YesWeekly

    Related Posts

    • Editor's picks, Music February 15, 2019

      So Cardi B won a

      So Cardi B won a Grammy…I’m not surprised
      Editor's picks, Opinion February 14, 2019

      Stained Glass Playhouse presents Neil

      Stained Glass Playhouse presents Neil Simon’s ‘Barefoot in the Park’
      Editor's picks, Film February 13, 2019

      Albert Finney: Farewell to a

      Albert Finney: Farewell to a king
    • Editor's picks, Film February 13, 2019

      Delivering the male

      Delivering the male
      Editor's picks, Film February 13, 2019

      Author of 'Black Klansman' speaks

      Author of ‘Black Klansman’ speaks at Wake Forest
      Opinion February 13, 2019

      Blackface saga gives Virginia a

      Blackface saga gives Virginia a black eye

    Support Local Journalism

    PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!

    e-Edition

    Advertisement

    Sponsored by









    Calendar

    Recent Posts

    • Eight great things to do in the Triad: Feb. 15-17
    • So Cardi B won a Grammy…I’m not surprised
    • Live from the ADP presents: Gooseberry Jam
    • Kaleideum’s SPECIAL EVENTS and EXHIBITIONS for MARCH 2019
    • GLORIA TREVI ANNOUNCES U.S. ‘DIOSA DE LA NOCHE’ TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUEST KAROL G

    Recent Comments

    • Eight great things to do in the Triad: Feb. 15-17 | YES! Weekly on Anti-Valentine’s Day coming back your way
    • Live from the ADP presents: Gooseberry Jam | YES! Weekly – BidWin Content on Live from the ADP presents: Gooseberry Jam
    • So Cardi B won a Grammy…I’m not surprised | YES! Weekly – BidWin Content on So Cardi B won a Grammy…I’m not surprised
    • KITTLE TO HEADLINE WINSTON-SALEM DASH HOT STOVE BANQUET – Yes! Weekly | Chicago White Sox on FORMER WHITE SOX STAR RON KITTLE TO HEADLINE WINSTON-SALEM DASH HOT STOVE BANQUET
    • Dr. Ajit Kelkar Announced as Interim Director of New Centers of Excellence – JSNN on North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Creates Three Centers of Excellence; Interim Directors Named

    Tweets

    Tweets by @yesweekly

    Facebook

    YES! Weekly
    2018 COPYRIGHT WOMACK NEWSPAPERS, INC.