The film opens in Hau Nghia Province, Vietnam, 1966. Working in special ops under counterinsurgency specialist Edward Lansdale, Daniel Ellsberg is on the ground in Vietnam as an eyewitness of the futility of the United States to thwart the Viet Cong. On a plane back to Washington, D.C., Ellsberg informs Secretary of State Robert McNamara that things are staying the same in Vietnam. That is Ellsberg's polite way of describing a military quagmire.
Unfortunately, the thrust of the good background scene above drops out of the film and the balance of the "The Post" focuses on the relationship of editor Ben Bradlee and newspaper owner Kay Graham and their decision to publish a chunk of the Pentagon Papers. Those were the top secret documents smuggled out of the vaults of the Rand Corporation by Ellsberg to inform the American public about the workings of its secret government during the Vietnam War.
While the film features endless scenes with Bradlee and Graham in offices and dinners parties, the more interesting character development was LBJ's Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, effectively portrayed by actor Bruce Greenwood. McNamara was one of the principal civilian architects of the Vietnam War and the man who commissioned the top secret Pentagon Papers for the historical record.
There is a critical scene in the film where McNamara meets with Kay Graham, pleading his case not to publish the secret dossier. McNamara argues that he and his fellow policy makers were guided by the domino theory and containment to exert "military pressure" on the Viet Cong. These cold warriors were what David Halberstam called "the best and brightest" men of their generation. As if paraphrasing Halberstam, McNamara, caught in the lie, tells Kay Graham that '"we were just doing our best."
Because this shallow film focuses on the relatively insignificant backstory of the publication of the documents, it misses other vital issues about the role of Ellsberg in stealing and leaking. Ellsberg is implicitly portrayed as a hero. But shouldn't Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning also be heroes? The film doesn't have enough courage to tackle that question.
In the bonus segment of the DVD, it was revealed that Ellsberg himself met with Tom Hanks and Steve Spielberg. The DVD commentary discloses that Ellsberg was a Marine who had been on the ground in Vietnam to observe the quagmire in progress. His first-hand observations are captured in the best scene in the film in the opening sequence in Hau Nghia Province. But the film did not go far enough in revealing that Ellsberg potentially faced a 100+ year prison sentence under the 1917 Espionage Act.
Sadly, Ellsberg's story is merely widow dressing for the glorification of the saintly publishers. The filmmakers missed a golden opportunity by failing to capture the dramatic moment when the documents that Ellsberg stole were read into the record of the United States Senate by Sen. Mike Gravel. More than 4,000 pages of the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers were part of the Senate record, which meant that any publisher could print them without fear of any legal retribution. Thus, the real hero in revealing the truth to the American public was Mike Gravel, not Ben Bradlee or Kay Graham.
The essence of the Pentagon Papers was the revelation of a government that realized the war in Southeast Asia was a losing cause, yet continued to send American troops to their deaths in order to save face. The film points out that 10% of the war effort was to help the Vietnamese; 20% was to stop communism from spreading; and 70% was for Lyndon Johnson to avoid the humiliation of a defeat attached to his name
The manipulation of public opinion and the lies of propaganda should have been the focus of "The Post," not the romanticizing of newspaper people.
Thumbs down!
Unfortunately, the thrust of the good background scene above drops out of the film and the balance of the "The Post" focuses on the relationship of editor Ben Bradlee and newspaper owner Kay Graham and their decision to publish a chunk of the Pentagon Papers. Those were the top secret documents smuggled out of the vaults of the Rand Corporation by Ellsberg to inform the American public about the workings of its secret government during the Vietnam War.
While the film features endless scenes with Bradlee and Graham in offices and dinners parties, the more interesting character development was LBJ's Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, effectively portrayed by actor Bruce Greenwood. McNamara was one of the principal civilian architects of the Vietnam War and the man who commissioned the top secret Pentagon Papers for the historical record.
There is a critical scene in the film where McNamara meets with Kay Graham, pleading his case not to publish the secret dossier. McNamara argues that he and his fellow policy makers were guided by the domino theory and containment to exert "military pressure" on the Viet Cong. These cold warriors were what David Halberstam called "the best and brightest" men of their generation. As if paraphrasing Halberstam, McNamara, caught in the lie, tells Kay Graham that '"we were just doing our best."
Because this shallow film focuses on the relatively insignificant backstory of the publication of the documents, it misses other vital issues about the role of Ellsberg in stealing and leaking. Ellsberg is implicitly portrayed as a hero. But shouldn't Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning also be heroes? The film doesn't have enough courage to tackle that question.
In the bonus segment of the DVD, it was revealed that Ellsberg himself met with Tom Hanks and Steve Spielberg. The DVD commentary discloses that Ellsberg was a Marine who had been on the ground in Vietnam to observe the quagmire in progress. His first-hand observations are captured in the best scene in the film in the opening sequence in Hau Nghia Province. But the film did not go far enough in revealing that Ellsberg potentially faced a 100+ year prison sentence under the 1917 Espionage Act.
Sadly, Ellsberg's story is merely widow dressing for the glorification of the saintly publishers. The filmmakers missed a golden opportunity by failing to capture the dramatic moment when the documents that Ellsberg stole were read into the record of the United States Senate by Sen. Mike Gravel. More than 4,000 pages of the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers were part of the Senate record, which meant that any publisher could print them without fear of any legal retribution. Thus, the real hero in revealing the truth to the American public was Mike Gravel, not Ben Bradlee or Kay Graham.
The essence of the Pentagon Papers was the revelation of a government that realized the war in Southeast Asia was a losing cause, yet continued to send American troops to their deaths in order to save face. The film points out that 10% of the war effort was to help the Vietnamese; 20% was to stop communism from spreading; and 70% was for Lyndon Johnson to avoid the humiliation of a defeat attached to his name
The manipulation of public opinion and the lies of propaganda should have been the focus of "The Post," not the romanticizing of newspaper people.
Thumbs down!