Irish Film Institute -Review Roundup: The Post and The Final Year

Review Roundup: The Post and The Final Year

January 19th 2018 brings two new releases: The Post and The Final Year.

The Post assembles the dream team of Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in front of the camera along with director Steven Spielberg for a story set in 1971 with some serious modern day resonance as the press goes toe-to-toe with the American government.

The Final Year is a new documentary which had unprecedented access to the White House during the last days of the Obama administration, featuring players including John Kerry, Samantha Power and the former President himself.

Read on for a selection of reviews of these films, and pop into the IFI to find out for yourself!

THE POST
“No one in the world is better at telling complex stories with bold visual clarity than Steven Spielberg, and here he cleverly uses a sombre brown and cream palette to summon up the febrile gloom of early 1970s America”
5/5 Irish Independent

“Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep give excellent performances, though not exactly a stretch in either case, and both with a tiny, tasty touch of cheese. Their characterisations are luxuriously upholstered, effortlessly fluent, busting with relatability”
4/5 – Guardian

“Steven Spielberg’s latest irresistible entertainment”
4/5 – Irish Times

“Propulsive major studio cinema made with a real-world purpose in mind, it’s a risky venture that succeeds across the board”
LA Times

“Pulses ahead like a detective yarn for news junkies, one that crackles with present-day parallels”
Variety

“It would be more surprising if it wasn’t a cracker. But it is”
5/5 – RTE

THE FINAL YEAR
“Sometimes their ethical band-standing sounds a little pompous, but they all seem genuinely motivated more by idealism than ego. Which sounds almost far-fetched given what was coming next”
4/5 – Irish Independent

“[An] engaging and resolutely un-dishy travelogue …”
Village Voice

“What chills most about this doc is how unprepared Team Obama was for the victory of Team Trump and the ease with which many of its hard-won policies could be unraveled. Welcome to our new national nightmare”
Rolling Stone

“Under the current circumstances, Barker has given us a film with much broader appeal, one that’s not only absorbing but also essential in its depiction of humane, responsible leadership”
The Wrap

“This feels like a feature-length season finale to The West Wing”
Guardian

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