"Fake news" was a heated point of discussion after last year's presidential election. But what if the false information is coming from the White House itself?
That's a question raised by the trailer for Steven Spielberg's upcoming drama The Post, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. The "Post" is The Washington Post, and Streep and Hanks' characters, Kay Graham and Ben Bradlee, are employed there in 1971, when the movie takes place. They're not just fictional characters, though. Both Graham and Bradlee worked for the Post for decades, Graham as the paper's first woman publisher and Bradlee as executive editor.
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In the trailer, Graham and Bradlee team up to tackle a government cover-up that's gone on during the terms of four U.S. presidents. It looks like they're competing against The New York Times for information, too; the trailer includes several moments where the Times appears to beat the Post to expose government documents related to the Vietnam War. (Don't be surprised if the movie draws comparisons to Spotlight for its portrayal of investigative journalism.) At one point in the trailer, Bradlee says the Times' revelations show the White House "has been lying about the Vietnam War for 30 years," so it's definitely a captivating story. And given a recent tweet by our own president, a movie about the free press is timely, too.
A press release for the movie notes that The Post will be the first time Spielberg, Hanks, and Streep have all worked together on a film. What's most interesting, though, is The Post's supporting cast, which includes several comedians, like Zach Woods and David Cross. Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Bradley Whitford, and Matthew Rhys also star in the movie; it's a seriously star-studded list.
The Post will be released in select cities on December 22 and nationwide on January 12, 2018.
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