88% on Rotten Tomatoes
Chloe's thoughts: It's alright
Watch it if you: Are interested in the event (The Washington Post's publication of government secret reports);
Are a fan of Meryl Streep and/or Tom Hanks
Katharine Graham, the first female American newspaper publisher, faces a difficult decision when it comes to light that four US Presidents were covering up government secrets relating to the Vietnam War. With her company's reputation, her family's legacy, and even her freedom, at stake, she must be the one to ultimately decide how to expose the truth.
The film ends up getting better, but the first half of the film felt like a bit of a drag. It was a bit slow, and I found it a bit confusing when they just rattled off names. It was hard to figure out which name was which character and which character played what role in the big conspiracy. As a result, you had this idea that something bad was happening with some papers, but they don't focus on it too much. It would have been nice for them to not rush through the important facts, which they kind of did in order to focus on the superb acting ability of the cast. So these important tidbits of information felt like they went by too quickly and it was hard to follow.
Sometimes you also feel like the film is trying a bit too hard to get some Oscar awards, with the camera work and such happening in some scenes. But at the same time it doesn't feel as epic as it should be, so I don't think the fancy camerawork, long takes, and difficult dialogue felt worth it. It didn't feel like they pulled it off well.
In saying that, there are some great scenes with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Any film directed by Steven Spielberg that can sell itself just by using two words, "STREEP. HANKS." isn't going to be terrible after all. There is one scene where Streep and Hanks are just having coffee or something, and it's a really long take chock-full of dialogue, and it's great to see them just talking and acting so naturally well with each other.
And the film does get a lot better, but then it kind of goes downhill again right at the very end where they end up publishing the news article. It's all a bit... anticlimactic. And they even end the film with a snippet of the Watergate scandal, which felt really out of place. It made me feel like they were suddenly a Marvel movie teasing a sequel that was going to be much better than the one we just finished watching, particularly because the Watergate scandal was an even bigger deal at the time.
All in all, this film did not hit its potential. It didn't feel at all very out there or dramatic and different. It just felt like a pretty typical Hollywood retelling of a historical event that was famous enough to get seats in the cinema. Even though it's got Spielberg, Streep and Hanks, three of the greatest names in Hollywood, it's only alright.
A few side notes:
- At one stage there was Jared from Silicon Valley, Meth Damon from USS Callister, and then Tom Hanks in between the two of them! I was so in awe during that scene I was hardly paying attention to what they were talking about.
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