The Postman (film)

The Postman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kevin Costner
Screenplay by	Eric Roth Brian Helgeland
Based on	The Postman by David Brin
Produced by	Jim Wilson Steve Tisch Kevin Costner
Starring	Kevin Costner Will Patton Larenz Tate Olivia Williams James Russo Tom Petty
Cinematography	Stephen Windon
Edited by	Peter Boyle
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production company	Tig Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	December 25, 1997 (1997-12-25)
Running time	177 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$80 million[2]
Box office	$20.8 million[2][3]

The Postman is a 1997 American post-apocalyptic action adventure film produced and directed by Kevin Costner, who plays the lead role. The screenplay was written by Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland, based on David Brin's 1985 book of the same name. The film also features Will Patton, Larenz Tate, Olivia Williams, James Russo, and Tom Petty.

It is set in a post-apocalyptic and neo-Western version of the disestablished United States in the then near-future year of 2013, sixteen-plus years after unspecified apocalyptic events, led by Nathan Holn, progressing to war, followed by plagues, that collectively left a huge impact on human civilization and erased most technology. Like the book, the film follows the story of a nomadic drifter (Costner) who stumbles across the uniform of an old United States Postal Service mail carrier, and unwittingly inspires hope through an empty promise of a "Restored United States of America" and starts his path to become a national hero.

Released on Christmas of 1997 from Warner Bros., The Postman was a major critical failure and a box-office bomb, grossing a total of $20 million worldwide. It was nominated for three Saturn Awards but won all five of its Golden Raspberry Award nominations including Worst Picture.

Plot[]

In 2013, an unnamed nomad enters the Utah flatlands, trading Shakespearean performances for food and water. In one of the towns, the nomad is forced into the ranks of the Holnists, the predominant neo-fascist militia in the area and branded on his shoulder with their symbol, a figure 8. A local Holnist leader, General Bethlehem, schemes to take over the fallen United States with his regime. When the nomad escapes, he takes refuge in a long-deceased postman's mail vehicle.

With the postman's uniform and mail bag, he arrives in Pineview claiming to be from the newly restored US government. He convinces town sheriff Briscoe by showing a letter addressed to elderly villager Irene March. The Postman inspires a teenager named Ford Lincoln Mercury and swears him into the postal service. The Postman also meets spouses Abby and Michael, fulfilling their clinical request to impregnate her. When the Postman leaves for the town of Benning, he carries a pile of mail left at the post office door by the townspeople.

During a raid of Pineview, General Bethlehem learns of the Postman’s tales of a restored government and becomes afraid of losing power if word spreads. He burns the American flag and post office, kills Michael, kidnaps Abby, and next attacks the town of Benning. The Postman surrenders, but Abby saves him from execution, and the two escape into the surrounding mountains. A pregnant Abby and an injured Postman ride out the winter in an abandoned cabin.

When spring arrives, they cross the range and run into a girl, who claims to be a postal carrier. She reveals that Ford Lincoln Mercury organized a postal service based on the Postman's story. They have established communications with other settlements, creating a quasi-society and inadvertently spreading hope.

Bethlehem is still fighting to suppress the postal carriers, who are mostly teenagers pitted against a better-equipped enemy. In the face of mounting casualties, the Postman orders everyone to disband and writes a surrender letter to Bethlehem. However, Bethlehem learns to his dismay that the Postman's example has spread farther than he could have anticipated when his men capture a carrier from California, and he redoubles his efforts to find the Postman. The Postman and Abby, closely followed by young carriers Eddie, Ponytail and Billy, travel to Bridge City. When Bethlehem's scouts catch up, the mayor helps the Postman to escape on a cable car to find volunteers for an army of carriers. Before leaving, he and Abby reciprocate their feelings and fall in love.

In a recitation of King Henry V's speech prior to the Siege of Harfleur, the Postman rallies himself and his troops to war. The mounted Carriers and Holnists meet across a field. Knowing the casualties will be great if the armies meet in battle, the Postman instead challenges Bethlehem for leadership, with their troops as witnesses. The Postman wins the fight but spares Bethlehem's life to maintain morale. Bethlehem lunges to shoot the Postman but is shot by Colonel Getty, Bethlehem‘s executive officer. Getty then surrenders, and the rest of the Holnists follow his lead.

Thirty years later, the Postman's grown daughter, accompanied by other public figures and servicemen (including postal workers), speaks at a ceremony unveiling a bronze statue by territorial waters in St. Rose, Oregon in tribute to her father, who has recently died (1973–2043). Her speech, along with modern clothing and technology, reveal that the Postman and his mail carriers' actions have helped rebuild the United States.

Cast[]

Production[]

On his personal website, author David Brin reveals that while studios were bidding for The Postman, his wife decided during a screening of Field of Dreams that Kevin Costner should portray The Postman.^[5] Brin agreed that the emotions evoked by Field of Dreams matched the message he intended to deliver with his novel. A decade later, after learning Costner would be cast as the lead, Brin said he was "thrilled".^[5] Costner discarded the old screenplay (in which the moral message of the novel had been reversed) and hired screenwriter Brian Helgeland; Brin says the two of them "rescued the 'soul' of the central character" and reverted the story's message back to one of hope.^[5] Costner supposedly passed on the lead role in Air Force One to work on The Postman.^[6]

In an interview with Metro before filming began, Brin expressed his hope that The Postman would have the "pro-community feel" of Field of Dreams instead of the Mad Max feel of Costner's other post-apocalyptic film Waterworld. Brin said that, unlike typical post-apocalyptic movies that satisfy "little-boy wish fantasies about running amok in a world without rules", the intended moral of The Postman is that "if we lost our civilization, we'd all come to realize how much we missed it, and would realize what a miracle it is simply to get your mail every day."^[7]

The Postman was filmed in Metaline Falls and Fidalgo Island, Washington; central Oregon; and southern Arizona around Tucson and Nogales. Metaline Falls is the location for the community of Pineview in the film.

Despite the film performing disastrously at two test screenings, Costner refused Warner Bros.' appeals that he edit it down from its then-massive three hour running time.^[8]

Music[]

Reception[]

Box office[]

The film was a notable failure at the box office. The first four days after opening brought in only $5.3 million on 2,207 screens.^[9][10] Produced on an estimated $80 million budget, it returned less than $21 million.^[11][3]

The film was subsequently released on VHS and DVD on June 9, 1998, and on Blu-ray Disc on September 8, 2009.

Critical response[]

The Postman received heavily negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 8% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 4.00/10. The site's consensus states: "A massive miscalculation in self-mythologizing by director and star Kevin Costner, The Postman would make for a goofy good time if it weren't so fatally self-serious."^[12] Metacritic gives the film a score of 29 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.^[14]

Stephen Holden of The New York Times criticized the movie for its "bogus sentimentality" and "mawkish jingoism".^[15] Roger Ebert described The Postman as a failed yet noble effort at a parable, being "goofy", "pretentious", and "way too long", yet "good-hearted". He criticized Costner's putting himself in the lead role, arguing that such roles should be cast against type and that Costner had played too many similar roles in past films.^[16] On Siskel & Ebert, Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film "two thumbs down", with Siskel calling it "Dances with Myself" (in reference to Costner's Oscar-winning film Dances with Wolves) while referring to the bronze statue scene.^[17]

Costner defended the film: "I always thought it was a really good movie! I always thought I probably started it wrong. I should have said something like “once upon a time.” Because it was just like a modern-day fairy tale — it wraps itself up with a storybook ending with the statue. You know, I thought it was a pretty funny movie set against the idea of a Superman — somebody stepping up. But in this case, it’s a very humble guy who's nothing but a liar [laughs] — delivers mail and burns half of it just to stay alive. So, I like the movie."^[18]

Accolades[]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Parish, James Robert (2006), Fiasco – A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops, Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 359 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-69159-4
• Turner, Barnard Edward (2005), Cultural Tropes of the Contemporary American West, Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen, pp. 267 pages, ISBN 0-7734-6219-8

External links[]

• The Postman at IMDb
• The Postman at AllMovie
• The Postman at Box Office Mojo
• The Postman at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Postman at Metacritic