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Sep 16, 2018kpelish rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Another Spielberg triumph in depicting crucial moments in American history and especially apt today as we transcend a president who brays that the free press is the enemy. The film moves rapidly in tracing the copying, then the publication of the Pentagon Papers in exposing the machinations behind the Vietnam War; freedom of press; Nixon's paranoia; and most powerfully, the teamwork among publisher Katharine Graham (misperceived as just a well-connected socialite), Ben Bradlee, and courageous reporters. Especially notable for Graham (played by the indomitable Meryl Streep) coming into her own as a female leader in the early 70s. The rivalry between the established, paper-of-record New York Times and the smaller, regional Washington Post is a background theme. The Post's success foreshadows its credibility when the later Watergate scandal breaks—and breaks Nixon.