The Postman Review
by David Sunga (dsunga AT orbitel DOT com)December 29th, 1997
The Postman (1997)
Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 4.0)
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Key to rating system:
2.0 stars Debatable
2.5 stars Some people may like it
3.0 stars I liked it
3.5 stars I am biased in favor of the movie
4.0 stars I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out *********************************
A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by:
Kevin Costner
Written by:
Eric Roth, Brian Helgeland, from a David Brin novel
Starring:
Kevin Costner, Olivia Williams, Larenz Tate, Will Patton
Ingredients:
Post-Apocalyptic world, lone man, beautiful woman, evil warlord
Synopsis:
It is the year 2013. The United States has been destroyed and is only a legend. Civilization is reduced to shambles. All that is left are pitiful isolated settlements in the American West and Northwest that pay tribute to a tyrannical warlord named General Bethlehem (Will Patton). Enter a traveling beggar named Shakespeare (Kevin Costner) who does stage performances for food, but is usually unwelcome in the suspicious towns. One day Shakespeare tells a grand lie. To get accepted into town he tells the people at the gates that he is a postman representing the restored government of the United States. To everyone's surprise, people really believe in the restored United States, and this eventually leads to a full scale revolt against evil General Bethlehem, with a reluctant Shakespeare caught in the middle of the situation.
Opinion:
Costner seems comfortable and in his element here, as far as acting is concerned. This movie seems part WATERWORLD and part DANCES WITH WOLVES, because the time period is post-Apocalypse like WATERWORLD, yet the story takes place in the vast Western wilderness like DANCES WITH WOLVES. Eric Roth, the screenwriter of Forrest Gump co-wrote the script to this movie so of course it features a gosh-darn humble American hero with lots of apple pie and cavalry scenes and flag saluting, and American values. THE POSTMAN tries to be a sweeping epic about a lone wilderness guy perpetuating a Santa-Clause-type lie that revives a fallen America. If you go for a lot of horse-riding and flag-waving, you'll probably like the movie, though it might seem about 30 minutes too long. However, If you're not into all that Americana stuff, you'll find THE POSTMAN watchable, but a bit corny. The way to approach this movie is to watch it as if it's a Saturday afternoon HERCULES adventure.
Reviewed by David Sunga
December 26, 1997
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
