The Post

As an exercise in filmmaking, Spielberg's The Post pads a resume that's already bursting at the seams (I realize that I'm mixing metaphors).  Everything onscreen supports Spielberg's vision; it would be difficult to find any flaws with this film, and the virtuoso newsprinting sequence alone is worth the price of admission.  So, if you want to see one movie in your entire life about the heroics of journalists, then go no further than The Post.  But if you saw Spotlight a few years ago, or All The President's Men, or any other film in this sub-genre, then you've already gotten the general gist of The Post.  In a nutshell, every journalist is full of unbiased integrity, seeking the truth, and is a defender and champion of the Constitution.  I have to give Spielberg credit, the two main characters call each other out on relationships that threaten their impartiality.  But Spielberg's conclusion is that his heroes are immune to corruption, and their sympathetic nature makes them better people, and thereby better journalists.  This may be the most one-sided Spielberg movie ever made, and I'm including the fact that you couldn't even see the Nazis during the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan.  I don't think that a great film must give equal time, or even pretend to be objective, but I found the preachiness of this film to be intellectually dishonest, and somewhat offensive.  That the Government tried to prohibit the publication of classified documents was met with righteous indignation, yet only a few throw-away lines addressed the possible consequences of printing national secrets.  The irony is that the outcome of history is used to justify decisions that, given a different outcome, would be considered treasonous.  There is even a point in the film when one of the lawyers representing the journalists is asked whether he would have supported printing documents that would have undermined the D-Day invasion; this question goes unanswered.  You might be surprised to hear that overall I liked the film; if someone is going to piss me off, it might as well be one of the best directors of all time...