The Post (2018) - Freedom Of... Whatsoever!

★★☆☆☆

This is essentially a story of freedom of the press versus government security, set in the time of the Vietnam War, during which the American government, for fear of humiliations, kept sending thousands of young men to die in a battle that they knew they couldn’t possibly win! ‘The Post’, which has got great actors like Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, and the skilled honorable Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair, seems like nothing of a letdown. If journalism movies concerning scandals, top secrets, conspiracies or stuff, are really your cup of tea, I’d recommend ‘Spotlight’ that is indeed more dramatic, emotional and provocative!

When you expect there would be lots of intense arguments and confrontations, the entire film is in fact pretty quiet and restrained. Meryl Streep’s Kay seems quiet and restrained. So is Tom Hanks’ Ben. No one’s practically overreacting or going hysterical. You’d feel like watching a documentary that seems rather calm and lack of emotions most of the time. The camera just moves around and observes like an outsider, and that’s it. It’s not so riveting as expected though.

The film’s to praise those courageous reporters risking their everything to tell the truth while the government was trying to stop them in the name of national security! Speaking of freedom of, well, whatsoever, I feel like people always wish to get a piece of something without giving up some piece of their own. Everything, whatever freedom, has its price, but we’re always trying to avoid paying it. Every coin has two sides. When fighting for your freedom, you’re taking away some of others’ at the same time. I don't know how tempting freedom seems to you in that sense then, but it's not at all to me!