'The Post': Pentagon Papers Put The Press Under Pressure
Ben Bradlee
Staffer Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) registers this disconnect  and leaks a top-secret government report on the war to the New York Times. And whenever the Times gets a scoop   Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks)  gets riled.
 Bradlee 's ambitions were not modest  however.  He  just needed time. And now  suddenly  when the Post also got their own copy of the report   he  had it.
The film isn't Spielberg's subtlest  but it has some nicely subtle touches  like when  his  long-lens camera peers through White House windows to catch glimpses of a president and  his  henchmen; we hear their actual voices from tapes Nixon was forced to give up  years later.
Tom Hanks makes for a blustery  Ben Bradlee   and Meryl Streep plays Kay Graham as hesitant but steely  seemingly the only woman in the corridors of power â and ironically  the one with the power to defend the First Amendment.  Bradlee  can talk principle all  he  wants â and  he  does here  often â but only Graham can publish.
MONDELLO: Staffer Daniel Ellsberg registers how this doesn't jibe with what McNamara was saying on the plane or with a secret government report he has access to. When he leaks that report  The New York Times gets a huge scoop  and  Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee...
TOM HANKS: (As  Ben Bradlee ) Is anybody else tired of reading the news instead of reporting it?
HANKS: (As  Ben Bradlee ) We are sucking hind tit in our own backyard.
HANKS: (As  Ben Bradlee ) No  it's 7 000 pages detailing how the White House has been lying about the Vietnam war for 30 years. It's Truman and Eisenhower and Jack. LBJ lying - lying about Vietnam. And you think that's one story. Let's do our jobs. Find those pages.
MONDELLO:  Bradlee 's ambitions were not modest  however.  He  just needed time  and suddenly  he  had it.
HANKS: (As Ben Bradlee) I'd give my left one to be in this mess.
HANKS: (As  Ben Bradlee ) Whoa.
MONDELLO: Put to the torch - a phrase you don't hear much today in a film where the clatter of typewriters competes with the whoosh of pages sent by pneumatic tube to a press room where molten lead turns them into lines of type. And running the show - Tom Hanks as a blustery  Ben Bradlee  and Meryl Streep...
MONDELLO: ...As a hesitant but steely Katharine Graham  seemingly the only woman in the corridors of power and  ironically  the one with the power to defend the First Amendment.  Bradlee  can talk principle all  he  wants.
HANKS: (As  Ben Bradlee)  If we don't hold them accountable  I mean  my God  who will?
Staffer Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) registers this disconnect  and leaks a top-secret government report on the war to the New York Times. And whenever the Times gets a scoop   Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks)  gets riled.
  [TGT]  's ambitions were not modest  however.   [TGT]   just needed time. And now  suddenly  when the Post also got their own copy of the report    [TGT]   had it.
The film isn't Spielberg's subtlest  but it has some nicely subtle touches  like when   [TGT]   long-lens camera peers through White House windows to catch glimpses of a president and   [TGT]   henchmen; we hear their actual voices from tapes Nixon was forced to give up  years later.
Tom Hanks makes for a blustery  Ben Bradlee   and Meryl Streep plays Kay Graham as hesitant but steely  seemingly the only woman in the corridors of power â and ironically  the one with the power to defend the First Amendment.   [TGT] can talk principle all   [TGT]   wants â and   [TGT]   does here  often â but only Graham can publish.
MONDELLO: Staffer Daniel Ellsberg registers how this doesn't jibe with what McNamara was saying on the plane or with a secret government report he has access to. When he leaks that report  The New York Times gets a huge scoop  and  Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee...
TOM HANKS:  [TGT]  Is anybody else tired of reading the news instead of reporting it?
HANKS:  [TGT]  We are sucking hind tit in our own backyard.
HANKS:  [TGT]  No  it's 7 000 pages detailing how the White House has been lying about the Vietnam war for 30 years. It's Truman and Eisenhower and Jack. LBJ lying - lying about Vietnam. And you think that's one story. Let's do our jobs. Find those pages.
MONDELLO:   [TGT]  's ambitions were not modest  however.   [TGT]   just needed time  and suddenly   [TGT]   had it.
HANKS: (As  [TGT] ) I'd give my left one to be in this mess.
HANKS: (As   [TGT]  ) Whoa.
MONDELLO: Put to the torch - a phrase you don't hear much today in a film where the clatter of typewriters competes with the whoosh of pages sent by pneumatic tube to a press room where molten lead turns them into lines of type. And running the show - Tom Hanks as a blustery  Ben Bradlee  and Meryl Streep...
MONDELLO: ...As a hesitant but steely Katharine Graham  seemingly the only woman in the corridors of power and  ironically  the one with the power to defend the First Amendment.   [TGT] can talk principle all   [TGT]   wants.
HANKS: (As   [TGT] )  If we don't hold them accountable  I mean  my God  who will?