The two veteran actors were seen in White Plains allegedly filming for an untitled Steven Spielberg project recounting the Pentagon Papers. 20th Century Fox says its 'Untitled Steven Spielberg' project about the Pentagon Papers is now known as 'The Post.' The full cast has been revealed for filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated, previously referred to as The Post and now titled The Papers, and boy is it impressive. Spielberg is currently in the midst of the lengthy post-production process on his sci-fi adaptation, opening in March 2018, and had planned on next directing the historical drama, but a timely piece of material came his way and coalesced into a project Spielberg wanted to tackle ASAP. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to shoot this untitled drama to be ready for release later this year, as the film recounts the Washington Post’s role in exposing the Pentagon Papers to the public in 1971, and how Post editor Ben Bradlee (to be played by Hanks) teamed up with the organization’s first female publisher Kay Graham (Streep’s character) and the New York Times to challenge the federal government over their right to publish. The Pentagon Papers was a classified study that revealed harrowing details about the futility of the Vietnam War, which exposed that the Nixon Administration had been lying to the public. When the White House stopped the New York Times’ initial release of the papers, Bradlee and Graham fought to publish the rest in direct defiance of the Executive Branch. Image via HBO With a December 22, 2017 release date set, Spielberg has assembled one of the most exciting ensembles since, well, Spielberg’s own Lincoln. Per, the cast is as follows: Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Rhys, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bradley Whitford, and Zach Woods. You may notice plenty of Prestige TV faces here from everything from The Leftovers to Fargo to Silicon Valley, and this revelation only makes the film that much more compelling. Filming on the 20th Century Fox and Amblin Entertainment co-production is already underway, and after that December 22nd limited release the film is expected to go wide on January 12, 2018. Liz Hannah penned the script on spec, and Spielberg is producing alongside Amy Pascal and Kristie Macosko Krieger. Given the level of talent involved and timeliness of the premise, one imagines this is gonna be a major contender during the coming Oscar season. Of course we’ve been burned by these kinds of “sure things” before (see: Unbroken and Live by Night), but come on, this is Spielberg. We’re in a different league here. When American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government's deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Later, Washington Post owner, Kay Graham, is still adjusting to taking over her late husband's business when editor Ben Bradlee discovers the New York Times has scooped them with an explosive expose on those papers. Determined to compete, Post reporters find Ellsberg himself and a complete copy of those papers. However, the Post's plans to publish their findings are put in jeopardy with a Federal restraining order that could get them all indicted for Contempt. Now, Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press. In doing so, Graham and her staff join a fight that would have America's democratic ideals in the balance. Much to my surprise, I found Spielberg's account of the Washington Post's constitutional battle with the Nixon Administration over the Post's audacious and impulsive decision to publish the leaked Pentagon Papers in 1971 to be mildly prosaic and detached. It definitely lacks the raw drama it was obviously angling for and key scenes came across as tentative and sloppy. Despite an impactful, committed performance by Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post who helped crush gender barriers in journalism and a lively turn by Tom Hanks as the brash and swaggering Ben Bradlee, editor of the Post, this film suffers from a lack of depth and a surprisingly scattershot approach to the story by Spielberg. A viewer would be forgiven for coming away with a flawed understanding of the Pentagon Papers because the film is more about how the Washington Post came into national prominence by defying the White House in publishing documents the government claimed as top secret and vital to U.S. Military success in Vietnam. Some might argue that this film should be watched and evaluated more deliberately but when Spielberg himself rushed through the material and the filmmaking process, it's harder to claim that the viewer has missed something. With this much proven talent on both sides of the camera, haste makes waste. Not recommended.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2018
Categories |