ajitmahadevan

This is Quentin Tarantino's first whodunit - complete with all the classic Tarantino touches - messing around with timescales, chapters and backstories - specifically what seems to be US post civil war.

I was not disappointed - kept me engaged for all 2hrs 40 mins of it. The set up is slow and deliberate but superbly done.

Watching Meryl Streep act is like watching a virtuoso performer. She just lights up the screen. Tom Hanks rarely gets second billing to anyone - but he does in this movie. She plays the role of Katharine Graham as a person with mix of vulnerability and fortitude (not sure whether the real Katharine was that sort of a person).

"The Post" couldn't have come at a better time - given the challenges the fourth estate is facing within itself and with political pressures. Time to remember and thank the courage of papers like Washington Post and the New York Times for standing up to President of the US to ensure freedom of speech and government accountability. Not sure if the same courage exists today.

The story is the protagonist. There isn't really an obvious pivotal point - in terms of an individual character - around which the movie revolves - perhaps Tommy - the young soldier whom we see - desperately trying to stay alive and find his way to Britain.

The story of the evacuation of Dunkirk is amazing in itself. Christopher Nolan's take on it - and the sheer desperation and fear that young soldiers feel - during a war - is simply amazing. I loved it.