The Postman

Starring: Kevin Costner, Will Patton, Larenz Tate, Olivia Williams, Giovanni Ribisi, Tom Petty
Directed by: Kevin Costner
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Action, Science Fiction
1997

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: In the near, post-apocalyptic future, a drifter (Kevin Costner) reluctantly becomes a hero after he impersonates a postman, leading a band of survivors against a military hero (Will Patton).

Review:

Tim: I'm not sure how it happened, but over time, I somehow became a Kevin Costner apologist. I didn't think his huge, bloated, box office failure, Waterworld was as bad as critics claimed. And this huge, bloated, box office failure isn't nearly as bad as critics and audiences claimed. It's not great, but I still felt like there was a good bit here to like.

The movie does have some bad moments. First of all, the movie is way, way too long at 177 minutes. The movie is almost arrogantly long. The film should have wrapped up closer to two hours, instead of three. There are also quite a few weak moments. The whole inclusion of Tom Petty was pretty ridiculous.

Kevin Costner is fairly good in the lead role. He has experience in the whole post-apocalyptic anti-hero role. Olivia Williams is fairly good as well. Will Patton makes a very good bad guy. There are some scenes where you will just absolutely hate him. The rest of the cast is decent.

I love the part of the movie that focuses on the post office, and the importance the "Restored United States" has on the survivors. This really makes you feel a sense of pride for what the United States is all about, and the terrible void that would exist in the world without it. These scenes, unfortunately, are too few and far between. We get too bogged down in subplots which really don't make a big impact on the audience.

The Postman does a few things right, but ultimately, like Icarus, it gets slapped down because it was too ambitious. The movie tries to be this huge, sprawling, landmark futuristic epic. It comes across as silly, second tier effort. The movie should have been better, but as is, it's only a decent movie.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Waterworld, Dances With Wolves, JFK