The Post

Official Australian release date: 11/1/18. Viewed: 21/1/18.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Actors: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Tracy Letts, Brad Whitford

Genre: Drama

Rating: M

  

‘The Post’ is Spielberg & Hanks’ fifth film together, and it’s another good one. Kay Graham (Streep) is the publisher/owner of The Washington Post newspaper, after inheriting it from her late husband in the 1950’s, and Ben Bradlee (Hanks) is the editor, making the day-to-day decisions on what gets published. When the New York Times breaks the US Government cover-up of their failings in the Vietnam war and are silenced by the Supreme Court, the Post seizes the opportunity to publish the leaked documents they have also obtained.           

It’s all very pertinent with Trump’s America and “fake news” and while not exclusively about the press vs the government (there’s no long courtroom scenes), it definitely gets across the freedom of speech angle. It also shows what Kay went through – a widow trying to uphold her husband & father’s ideals, whilst being maligned as a woman in a man’s world – as well as the nostalgia of proper reporting, journalism and newspaper printing, which will sadly be lost to the world soon.

Great support cast – Bob Odenkirk, Carrie Coon & David Cross as senior reporters, Sarah Paulson as Hanks’ wife, Alison Brie as Streep’s daughter, Bruce Greenwood as the Secretary of Defence, Matthew Rhys as the source, Jesse Plemnos as the lawyer. It’s almost as good as ‘Spotlight’, as far as newspaper films go! Has a very strong beginning and end and it’s a pleasure to watch Hanks and Streep display their acting skills in between.

Overall: Well-made and well-acted true story.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

The Commuter

Official Australian release date: 18/1/18. Viewed: 15/1/18.

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Actors: Liam Neeson, Vera Famiga, Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill

Genre: Action/Drama

Rating: M

  

‘The Commuter’ is the 4^th film directed by Collet-Serra starring Liam Neeson – and it’s better than ‘Non-Stop’ (the one on a plane), but not quite as good as ‘Unknown’ (the amnesia one). Neeson is struggling to pull off looking even 60 (dyed hair doesn’t hide it), but luckily there isn’t as many stunts as ‘Taken’ here. Michael (Neeson) is an ex-cop who now sells life insurance – why’d he leave the force? Don’t know. He does, however, commute into New York City via train every day.

The first 30min is quite slow & scene setting (Wilson as his ex-partner, Neill as police captain, Banks as fellow train-buddy), before Joanna (Farmiga) sets a mystery in motion that slowly reveals itself. The film slowly picks up pace as more clues are revealed and the body count slowly, but almost plausibly rises (six in total, I think). There’s a stand-off at the end, but it’s still all over in 100min.

I think because my expectations were so low, I enjoyed this more than I might otherwise have. The tension is built quite well, the score’s good, the fight scenes are (mostly) realistic and the story, while far-fetched, is not totally unbelievable – some of the stunts are, but that’s to be expected. Certainly nothing new or revolutionary, but an enjoyable action/thriller that doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

Overall: Better than I expected!

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

The Shape of Water

Official Australian release date: 18/1/18. Viewed: 12/1/18.

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Actors: Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon

Genre: Fantasy/Drama

Rating: MA

  

‘The Shape of Water’ is del Toro’s 10^th film, and one of his best – better than ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’, in my books. It’s an interesting tale about a mute woman Elisa (Hawkins), who works as a cleaner at a military base with her friend, Zelda (Spencer). There they find that Strickland (Shannon) has brought something strange back to the base. Since he’s shown in the trailer & posters, it’s not really a spoiler to say that Doug Jones plays an Abe Sapien-like creature (man, I wish they’d make ‘Hellboy III’!) Elisa and “the asset” begin to connect and we’re off on a peculiar journey.

The film does well to integrate the fantastic with the real world, with everything looking like the 1960’s and the racism, sexism and prejudice is still on display. There’s also an interesting sub-plot of the Cold War, with Russian spies – and a bit of a sad ending there, but also slyly funny. All the actors are great – Jenkins as the helpful friend/neighbour, Spencer as the chatty/funny work friend, Stuhlbarg as the scientist, Shannon as the bad guy – always excellent – and Jones and Hawkins as the silent, but super-expressive leads.

The other main stars are colour and water – everything’s either a motif of green, blue or teal, and the use of water as a transition between scenes is great. The score’s good and the film never seems hurried – except for one scene – but isn’t too long either. There’s moments of violence and comedy between the question of how does he exist? But mostly, it’s a pleasant story about love and identity, with a solid ending and excellent cinematography.

Overall: Different and enjoyable love story.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.