Arts
Split Screen
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GRAND DAME Meryl Streep (right) stars as Washington Post publisher Kay Graham, who had to decide to risk her paper to stand up to the Nixon White House.
Truth to power
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in a room full of men, and though they know she’s the boss, she’s second guessed and pandered to. Her sphere of influence reaches a fevered pitch when her paper feels like it’s playing catch-up to The New York Times, which is publishing the so-called Pentagon Papers, documents that chronicle an ongoing government cover-up about the Vietnam War. When the Justice Department brings a court injunction against The New York Times, threatening criminal charges if they continue to publish, The Washington Post gets a shot at continuing to tell truth to power when investigative journalist Ben Bagdikian gets ahold of Daniel Ellsberg’s papers. Kay knows if she publishes, The Washington Glen Like All the Post may fall to criminal President’s Men THE POST charges. Meanwhile, Kay (1976), The Paper What’s it rated? PG-13 is also overseeing the (1994), and the What’s it worth, Anna? Full price first stock market public documentary Page What’s it worth, Glen? Full price offering of The Washington One (2011), The Post Where’s it showing? Bay, Downtown Post to generate a muchcelebrates the Fourth Centre, Park, Stadium 10, Galaxy needed cash injection Estate, reminding into the newspaper, but viewers that—as a clause in the bankers’ contract allows Justice Hugo Black said—“The press was them to pull out. With Ben Bradlee to serve the governed, not the governors.” on one side telling her to publish and In addition to being a story about the Arthur Parsons on the other, Kay must importance of journalism, it’s also a story decide whether to honor the meaning of a of the burgeoning feminist movement newspaper, risk it all, and publish, or play and one woman’s struggle to keep her it safe. It’s a gripping political thriller and family paper afloat. It’s the early ’70s and reminder that the free press is a check Nixon is president; his actual tapes are and balance on government power. used in the film, lending an important Anna Adding to Kay’s reticent feelings element of realism. Kay works in a man’s about publishing is the fact that many world. She’s frequently the only woman teven Spielberg (Jaws, The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln) directs this true story about Kay Graham (Meryl Streep), the first female newspaper publisher, and tenacious Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), who join forces to reveal a government cover-up spanning five presidencies. Written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, the film also stars Sarah Paulson as Tony Bradlee, Bob Odenkirk as Ben Bagdikian, Tracy Letts as Fritz Beebe, Bradley Whitford as Arthur Parsons, Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara, and Matthew Rhys as Daniel Ellsberg. (116 min.)
At the
involved parties are personal friends of her and her late husband Phil—people she has wined and dined with, raised children with, and who are embedded in the socialite lifestyle she’s known her entire life. Yet the paper, her father’s legacy that became her husband’s, is just as important to her as any person. Being the only woman in the room is both intimidating and infuriating, and Streep plays the internal conflict of both wanting to be heard and actually finding her voice with her well-seasoned panache. We see Kay confidently arguing her well-read and researched thoughts on the company being traded publicly behind closed doors, yet when faced with the sea of men sitting on the board, she folds in on herself, unable to speak. Her reserved and quiet demeanor is at odds with Executive Editor Ben Bradlee, whose bullish and bold style demands action over consequence, and who has little patience for indecision. First and foremost for Ben Bradlee and his fellow journalists is the fight to protect freedom of speech, and refusing to protect a government who has continuously lied to the public over decades and sent boys into an unwinnable war. Glen The film’s definitely a collaboration between Hollywood’s A-Team. Spielberg, Streep, and Hanks! It’s like the holy trinity! The story also tees-up All the President’s Men, which you’ll recall covered the Watergate break-in as revealed by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein under Editor Ben Bradlee—reportage that brought down the Nixon presidency. Spielberg is a superlative director, not as showy as some, but great at building tension in the small moments and letting his actors carry the weight of scenes, and what amazing actors! Streep is a revelation, displaying Kay’s internal struggle with the lightest of expressions, yet we know exactly what she’s going through. Hanks plays Bradlee with the brash confidence of someone more GUTS AND committed to GLORY journalistic integrity Tom Hanks than with keeping his (right) stars job. The supporting as editor Ben Bradlee, who cast is equal to pushed to the principals’ publish the performance. so-called Odenkirk is especially Pentagon good, and Greenwood Papers disappears into the despite a role of McNamara, a court order morally compromised forbidding it.
Movies
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME What’s it rated? R Where’s it showing? The Palm It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17-year-old American-Italian, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in GrecoRoman culture, and his mother, Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern
tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever. (130 min.) —Sony Pictures Classics
THE COMMUTER What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth? Rental Where’s it showing? Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy, Sunset Drive-In It seems like director Jaume Collet-Serra and actor Liam Neeson have a thing going on. First there was Unknown (2011) about a guy whose identity is stolen and he has to thwart an assassination, then there was Non-Stop (2014) about an air marshal thwarting an in-flight extortion scheme, then there was
Run All Night (2015) about a mob guy who has to thwart his boss’s attempt to murder his son, and now there’s The Commuter about a supposedly mild-mannered insurance salesman who has to thwart the assassination of a witness on a train. Yes, Michael MacCauley (Neeson) has a very particular set of skills, but one of them isn’t making The Commuter as good as Taken (2008), which Collet-Serra and Neeson seem to be chasing over and over without success. Sure, The Commuter is a serviceable action thriller, but it never quite reaches Neeson’s best action efforts like Taken or The Grey. It begins by establishing MacCauley as a committed family man who dutifully takes the commuter train in to New York every day to sell insurance out of his office in a big high rise. He’s unexpectedly fired and meets an old friend, Alex Murphy
34 • New Times • January 18 - January 25, 2018 • www.newtimesslo.com
man torn apart by his collusion. To get more insight into his character, I highly recommend the Errol Morris documentary The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003), in which the former U.S. secretary of defense recalls the foibles of Vietnam. As far as The Post is concerned, I see Oscar nominations on the horizon. This is great filmmaking! Anna Awards season is around the corner, and The Post is definitely going to be a contender in many categories. Spielberg weaves an engrossing, high stakes look at this slice of American history, and the cast has everything to do with it. I also was particularly drawn in by Whitford as Arthur Parsons, a member of the newspaper’s board who thinks things should stay as they were when Phil Graham ran the company and who inherently mistrusts decisions made by women, even when they’re the controlling owner. His character is utterly frustrating, and watching Streep dress him down in the end was completely satisfying. Kay is a woman of two worlds—one where she must grapple in a world of men and business, and one where she hosts dinners and retires to the lounge with the ladies while their husbands smoke cigars and talk politics and finance. When the decision to publish comes down to the wire, she’s bold enough to side against her most trusted advisors and go ahead with the story, even with the threat of court cases and prison looming unknown. It’s pretty much a given that if you put Spielberg, Hanks, and Streep together on a project it’s going to be great, and The Post doesn’t disappoint. See it now so you know what you’re cheering for when it inevitably takes home some Oscars. ∆ Split Screen is written by Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and his wife, Anna. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
REVIEW SCORING FULL PRICE .... It’s worth the price of an evening show MATINEE ........ Save a few bucks, catch an afternoon show RENTAL .......... Rent it STREAMING.... Wait ’til Netflix has it NOTHING ........ Don’t waste your time (Patrick Wilson), for a drink before heading home to face his wife and son. We learn MacCauley and Murphy were police partners. We also meet Captain Hawthorne (San Neill), who’s set up as a barely tolerable ballbuster and potential villain. Safely on the train back to the ’burbs, MacCauley meets Joanna (Vera Farmiga), who tells him he can make $100,000 if he can locate a train passenger “who doesn’t belong,” carrying a bag she wants him to mark with a GPS device. Incredulous, MacCauley finds—as directed—a $25,000 down payment in the restroom and begins to work his powers of detection, but things turn sinister quickly as Joanna threatens MacCauley’s family if he doesn’t succeed. Hey, the film isn’t going to win any awards or even stick in your head long after viewing, but if you like action thrillers, it’s passable, largely
because Neeson delivers a dependable performance. MacCauley’s a decent man in a hard spot, and when he discovers the person he’s supposed to find is marked for death, he’s torn between his family’s safety and the safety of the witness to a crime. Can he thread the needle and maintain his honor while saving both his family and the witness? The train offers an element of claustrophobia, the hand-to-hand combat scenes are well choreographed, and there’s an emotional element that raises the film beyond mindless action, but the film requires some serious suspension of disbelief to keep your eyes from rolling in your head. It’s pretty ridiculous, but considering the straight-to-video dreck out there, The Commuter isn’t terrible, but neither is it inspired. (105 min.) —Glen Starkey
DARKEST HOUR
What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth? Full Price Where’s it showing? The Palm Darkest Hour drops viewers into one of the tensest, grimmest periods of World War II to illustrate how British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Garry Oldman), orated Britain and its people out of surrendering to and into defiantly fighting Nazi Germany. Essentially a biographical portrait of Churchill, Darkest Hour leans on a phenomenal performance by Oldman to captivate the audience and make us feel the immensity of Europe teetering on the edge of destruction. Set in May of 1940, British Parliament has just ousted Neville Chamberlain as
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