The Postman (1997)

Starring - Kevin Costner; Will Patton; Larenz Tate; Olivia Williams & James Russo Director - Kevin Costner MPAA - Rated R for violence and some sexuality. The Postman is Kevin Costner's much-maligned movie that seems to always be mentioned in the same breath as his other much-maligned movie, Waterworld. While Waterworld deserved much of the criticism that it received, I think that most people where a little bit too harsh on The Postman. By biggest complaint with this movie was that it was a bit long. Other than that, it really wasn't half bad. Sure, maybe it was a bit self-indulgent on Costner's part, but self-indulgence is nothing new in Hollywood. The Postman is set in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, specifically Oregon. It is several years into the future and there has been a civil war in the US, and the government is now in ruins. The man with the power in this part of the country is General Bethlehem (Will Patton). He maintains his power through fear and with the help of his somewhat ragtag army. Kevin Costner plays a down on his luck actor who stumbles across the dead body of a US postal carrier whose body had been there from the time of the war. Costner assumes the identity of the postal carrier in the hopes that he might be able to weasel some food out of one of the local communities. The locals buy his story that he is a postman and a representative of the newly restored US government. In fact, he is so convincing that he inadvertently inspires a whole legion of postal carriers who work for the newly restored US government. The fact that there is no newly restored government is something that none of these postal carriers ever seem to figure out. Anyway, these new representatives of the US government pose a threat to the power of General Bethlehem, so he decides that they should be eliminated. The rest of the movie follows how Costner's character goes from being a con man to believing in the hope that has sprung from his lies. The Postman is a bit hokey in places, but for the most part, it works quite well. By the end of the movie I even started to like Costner's character. I never really disliked him; I just didn't care about him in the least. Lorenz Tate gives a great performance as Ford Lincoln Mercury (named after the ruins of a local car dealership), the young man who is the first to be inspired by the postman. It is he who later inspires Costner's postman. Olivia Williams plays Costner's love interest in this movie. For the most part, this really didn't work for me. Although by the end of the movie I was actually starting to root for the two of them. For me, the man who really made this movie was Will Patton as the evil general. Costner fans might recognize him as the bad guy in one of Costner's earlier films, No Way Out. Patton gave the best performance of the movie, and his character was, by far, the most interesting. Other cute casting touches included Tom Petty as a guy who used to be famous before the war. And while it was fun to see Tom, and his performance was pretty good, I wouldn't recommend him for the lead in a Shakespearean drama anytime soon. My main criticism of The Postman is that it could have stood a little more time in the editing room. I'd hazard a guess and say that a half an hour could have easily been cut from this film. The result would have made for a significantly more enjoyable experience. But if you don't mind long movies (especially ones with lags in the action) and a little self-indulgence on the part of a Hollywood heavy hitter, The Postman isn't all that bad. My only hope is that the next time Costner decides to make one of his epics that the studio makes him keep it to a manageable length. 7/10 Reviewed February 11, 1999 by Joe Chamberlain