Tag: Tracy Letts

The Post Movie Review

If you could envision a picture made in a factory for Best Picture consideration, The Post might be it. Two-time Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg? Check. Three-time winner and most nominated actress ever Meryl Streep? Yep. Two-time recipient Tom Hanks? Indeed. A historical context that has connections to what’s happening today? Present. Luckily, the film itself manages to be an often engrossing experience that is (surprise) quite well-acted and directed. Does it match the high mark of some other journalistic features that cover similar ground? Not in my view.

The Post opens with State Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) in Vietnam in the late 1960s and his growing realization that the conflict has no end in sight. Ellsberg has access to classified government docs and by the early 1970s, he wishes to expose the top secrets of the U.S. Government’s involvement overseas from the Truman through Nixon administrations. He first leaks some information to the vaunted New York Times, but attention soon turns to The Washington Post, which at this juncture is considered more of a hometown paper. That paper is run by Katharine Graham (Streep) and she’s the first woman to run such an operation. She inherited the Post after the deaths of her father and husband. While the film’s attention is mostly centered on the impending giant story that they may break, we also witness the difficulties Graham experiences as a woman working in a man’s world. This provides some of the best moments and more examples of Streep’s limitless abilities as a performer.

Graham runs in the D.C. social circles and she’s close with many of the figures her journalists look to expose, including Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood). The paper’s editor is Ben Bradlee (Hanks), a hard charging type who doesn’t think of the corporate exposure landmines that go along with spilling these secrets. Graham must do so because her business is about to go up for public offering and President Nixon isn’t exactly warm-hearted when dealing with media types.

Therein lies the drama with The Post as Graham and Bradlee struggle to do the right thing. The pic clearly reveres it main subjects and the virtuous acts they took. It also adores the bygone and pre-digitized era of the news. There are lovingly crafted shots of the newspapers being developed for print and frenzied reporters furiously typing their copy to meet their deadline. We also witness occasional spurts of dialogue that border on preachy. Screenwriters Liz Hannah and Josh Singer craft a couple of monologues that could warrant a bright red MESSAGE signal across the screen while its actors are speaking.

That said, the story itself is inherently fascinating and it’s told in a well-crafted manner. There are plenty of actors who pop up in supporting roles, including a very nice performance from Bob Odenkirk as an editor who goes way back with Ellsberg and is instrumental in the paper’s expose. This is primarily the Streep and Hanks show, however. And in case you didn’t know, the two can act. Hanks is playing a part made most famous by Jason Robards in All the President’s Men (for which he won a gold statue). It is that movie that you may wish to draw comparisons with. The Post isn’t in that league, but few reach that level of greatness. The Post, rather, is exceedingly competent.

*** (out of four)

 

 

The Post Box Office Prediction

A trio of multiple Oscar winners team up for The Post, which expands nationwide next weekend over the four-day MLK holiday frame. The dramatic political thriller from Steven Spielberg is headlined by Meryl Streep as Washington Post publisher Kay Graham and Tom Hanks as editor Ben Bradlee and their exposure of the Nixon Adminstration’s Pentagon Papers scandal. Costars include Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, and Carrie Coon.

Unsurprisingly, the film has garnered some Oscar attention for itself and looks to be a player in numerous races when nominations are announced on January 23rd. The Post has received lots of ink for its comparisons to the political scene today. Reviews have been mostly strong and it stands at 87% currently on Rotten Tomatoes.

Boasting its A list director and two stars, this should accomplish its mission of appealing to adult moviegoers. It’s performed extremely well in limited release thus far. I’ll predict this posting a low to mid 20s debut.

The Post opening weekend prediction: $22.3 million (Friday to Monday prediction)

For my Paddington 2 prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2018/01/03/paddington-2-box-office-prediction/

For my The Commuter prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2018/01/03/the-commuter-box-office-prediction/

For my Proud Mary prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2018/01/03/proud-mary-box-office-prediction/

Lady Bird Movie Review

Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird is an authentic coming of age tale with a genuine sense of time and place. Sporting superior performances down the line, it also announces actress Gerwig as a director and writer to watch.

The time is 2002 and the place is Sacramento. Christine (Saoirse Ronan) is a senior at Catholic high school who goes by the self named moniker of Lady Bird. She wishes to be anywhere but California’s capital city, yearning to attend college on the East Coast. Her relationship with mom Marion (Laurie Metcalf) is complicated and strained as many tend to be during that tenure. Dad (Tracy Letts) is more of the softie, but also dealing with his own issues of unemployment and unhappiness.

In addition to her familial issues, we see Lady Bird in two romantic relationships. The first is with Danny (Lucas Hedges), the theatrical guy who she performs alongside in the embarrassingly accurate portrayal of a high school play. And there’s Kyle (Timothee Chalamet), the brooding musician who rallies against the establishment and believes he’s far more profound than he likely is. We also see her friendships with the key one being Julie (Beanie Feldstein), her kindly and insecure bestie.

Gerwig grew up in Sacramento and attended Catholic school. While she’s said Lady Bird is just semi autobiographical, it sure feels like she knows these people and their situations very well. This applies to the main players and the smaller ones, including Lois Smith’s helpful nun and Stephen McKinley Henderson’s drama teacher.

We’ve seen many a film about dealing with adolescence. Like The Edge of Seventeen last year, Bird manages to be a genre highlight with its honesty and earned laughs and emotional resonance. The central relationship is the mother/daughter dynamic. It’s written well and much credit goes to Ronan and Metcalf for their terrific inhabitations of them.

Lady Bird also touches on class (the family is constantly trying to make ends meet), sexuality, and feelings of where one belongs. Ronan’s appealing creation goes through life believing there’s no place other than home that she wants to be. Gerwig knows the home lovingly detailed here. She knows that the young woman growing up before us will soon recognize its significance to her and how it’s shaped her. When the credits roll, you can imagine Lady Bird writing about it someday. And that it’ll turn out to be quite appealing.

***1/2 (out of four)