In 1971, one year before the Watergate explosion, at a time when print media still held power, Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) and Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) fight to reveal a state secret in the pages of the “Washington Post”…
As the first woman publisher of a major American newspaper, the Washington Post, Katharine Graham teams up with her editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee to uncover a monumental state scandal and catch up with the New York Times, which is conducting its own investigations.
These revelations concern the actions of four American presidents, over thirty years, aimed at covering up highly sensitive matters… At the risk of their careers and freedom, Katharine and Ben must overcome all that separates them to bring to light this long-buried “top-secret” document, obtained illegally, which demonstrates the United States’ responsibility in the Vietnam War and especially their manipulations to justify it.
The story is fascinating, and there is perhaps an educational virtue… But despite a solid script, which smartly directs it with the story of a woman emancipating herself, it is so filtered through Hollywood stereotypes!
Spielberg wants to remind us that the power of the press is always threatened, and that there is a contemporary and modern resonance…
Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep overact immensely in a cautious film, a film that ends well.
