It's Screener Time! "The Post."

If you'd like to see something that reminds one of a time when people stood up to power and actually accomplished something, then "The Post" is for you. I was a youngun(ish) when the Pentagon Papers emerged, though old enough to have a draft card... long story short, I'd forgotten many of the details behind Daniel Ellsberg's taking of these documents and the drama behind their dissemination.

What's especially good about this film is that while there is much angst among the reporters about what they're doing and the risks involved, it isn't forgotten that the Pentagon Papers essentially said that multiple Presidents and their administrations knew Vietnam was a losing proposition, but they went ahead with the war anyway. At a cost of 50,000 + American lives, many more wounded, and countless Vietnamese dead.

Tom Hanks is good, though I have a hard time erasing Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee from All The President's Men. But Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham is amazing... and again her part illuminates a story I never really knew. There was a little "hey, who's that?" going on with the rest of the cast, populated with many familiar faces (from Bradley Whitford to Bob Odenkirk to Carrie Coon), but once things settled in that passed. Plus the press scenes reminded me of my days at the Los Angeles Times as a heroic classified ad taker. I give The Post my coveted 4 out of 4 special editions...