Going Postal

I wanted to watch The Postman (1997) because I'd read the David Brin novel. I didn't even particularly love the novel, although I do love Brin. On the other hand, it's three-hours long, and stars and is directed by Kevin Costner, who I consider to be a handsome non-entity. On the third hand, it was a long weekend, and Ms. Spenser was working, so I queued it up.

It is set in the American West after a series of apocalypses. Costner and his mule are wandering around trying to avoid the remnants of civilization, or visiting these small outposts and performing half-forgotten scraps of Shakespeare for the yokels. 

While he's in one town, a militia shows up - the Holnist Army. It's been awhile since I read the book, so I heard this as Wholeness Army or something. Don't know why they didn't change the name. Anyway, they took supplies and conscripts in return for not massacring the village, and one of the conscripts is Costner.

The Army is lead by Will Patton and run on fascist, racist principles in a huge open-pit mine. They brand Costner, eat his mule, and make sure he doesn't escape. When he finally does, he hides out in an old mail truck, burning letters to stay warm. Then he steals the dead postman's outfit, takes a few letters and heads for the nearest town.

This town in fortified and they don't want to let him in, until he tells them he has a letter for a resident. That gets everyone teary-eyed over the way things used to be. So he makes up a story about the Restored United States, headed by by President Richard Starkey. His slogan: "It's getting better all the time."

He is celebrated with a party, and Olivia Williams even asks him to get her pregnant, since her husband can't. Costner may be a drifter and con-man, but he's also an aw-shucks cornball, so he lets her down easy.

Later, he meets a young black man who named himself Ford Lincoln Mercury, Larenz Tate. Tate wants to be a postman, so Costner swears him in. Then he takes a bag of mail and heads to the next town. He thinks this postman thing might be an easy gig.

But after he leaves, the Holnists show up. They don't like the idea of a Restore United States, since it could take their power, or even just make the locals hopeful and restless. They burn the post office, kidnap Williams, kill her husband and a bunch of other folk, and head off hunting the postman.

They catch him, but Williams manages to get a weapon and break him free - so they head for the hills. Costner has been trying to get to the idyllic town of Saint Rose on the Oregon coast, so that's where they will head, as soon as the passes are clear of snow. But the Holnists are still coming.

The tone of this movie is interesting: it's a combination of cornball sincerity and knowing irony. The idea is, we know Costner is a coward, a conman and a clown, and his stories about the revival of civilization are imaginary, but they give people hope and something to strive for, and that's what we humans need. I'm not a Costner expert, but it seems very much his thing. Add to that, it's an exciting adventure movie with beautiful Northwest scenery. It reminded me a lot of Dances with Wolves, the only other Costner movie I've seen.

Unfortunately, it is quite long and maybe not as exciting as it could be. Costner's character is interesting - I see a lot of Harrison Ford there. He is goofy and generally non-violent - he even threatens Williams with a spoon when she holds a knife to his throat. He seems to have a good heart. But he's just a little too bland, too slick. So in the end, I'm glad I saw it, but can't say I loved it. Maybe if I'd seen it back in the day.

In conclusion, Tom Petty has a small role, playing himself. He wound up the leader of a prosperous town attached to a hydroelectric damn. Good for him.