A liberal take on the Pentagon Papers: A women is called upon to make a brave decision in a 1970s Man's World.
The Pentagon Papers are documents contained in a review by the Johnson administration of the motives, history, presidential documents, and public statements concerning USA involvement in Vietnam 1950-67. Although classified as Top Secret, and although the USA still had troops in Vietnam, one of the contributors to the review, Dan Ellsberg, obtained and delivered copies of the documents to the NY Times in 1971.
Opinion in the USA was divided. Some were appalled by the lies of all postwar presidents and restraint of freedom of the press. Others believed that, during the Cold War, the USA was justified in concealing some actions and policy aims from the enemy, and therefore its own public. Consequently, shining a light on these covert actions placed the USA, still at war, at a military and political disadvantage. There were deeper questions as to who constitutes the USA, and who should decide what is kept secret: The President alone, Congress, The Press?
The film `The Post' is the most high profile in a series of several movies about the leaking and publication of the Pentagon Papers, due to the involvement of Spielberg, Streep and Hanks. Shying away from the questionable actions of Ellsberg, the script triple-filters us up through reporters and the editor, Bradlee (Hanks), to the refined world of the owner of the Washington Post, Kay Graham (Streep), and the pressures surrounding her as she agonises over publication. She is only remotely implicated in the possibly treasonous solicitation of the documents, and hers is a purer decision, in which the freedom of the press is paramount. In this way, the sympathy of even conservative viewers is engaged.
As a further aid to viewer sympathy, Streep & Hanks are shown battling with bankers and lawyers, who seek to influence the editorial policy of The Post, as it issues shares to investors. The high point, however, comes in a semi-religious scene, in which Streep descends the courtroom steps, almost in a halo, in the midst of a crowd of admiring younger women, who have seen her battle in a 1970s Man's World, and win.
Overall, I would say that this film is quite skillful in persuading the viewer, though it does not achieve the genius levels of manipulation and performance of `A Few Good Men'. Also, the ambiguity of the cause and the age of the leading cast mean that it does not have the energy, or reach the heights of `All The President's Men.' Nonetheless, an interesting film and a skillful exercise in liberal propaganda.
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