The Postman

Ford Lincoln Mercury. That's a character's name in this movie. I'm telling you that upfront because if you can't roll with a name like that, we're not going to agree about what comes next.

This one doesn't get the credit it deserves. I said it, I'll say it again. Is it corny? Hell yes. Kevin Costner as a drifter who stumbles into a mailman uniform and starts inspiring the wasteland with the sheer power of wanting to deliver the mail? Corny. There's an earnest streak running right down the middle of this movie and I know that's what turns a lot of people off.

This one doesn't get the credit it deserves.

Here's the thing. I'm an American, and this movie is pro American in a way that doesn't apologize for itself. I liked that. I liked sitting with it.

Kevin just wants to be left alone, minding his business, and then Will Patton's out there going nope, you're in my army now, pal. And the funny part is, getting drafted into Bethlehem's army turns out to be the best thing that ever happens to him. There's something kind of great about that setup.

The cast carries this. They're doing what they can with the material and for the most part it works. You can feel them pulling weight, leaning in, selling stuff that on the page probably looked a lot rougher than what ended up on screen. That counts with me.

Here's where I land. The story and the plot are solid. Genuinely solid. The bones of this thing are good. It just doesn't hit it out of the park. There are too many moments where the corn gets ahead of the story, where you can feel the movie reaching for something earnest and tripping over its own shoelaces getting there. I wanted it to work. I was rooting for it the whole runtime.

And I think that's why it sticks with me. The movies that fully connect, you love them and move on. The movies that almost connect, the ones where you can see the better version sitting right next to the one you got, those are the ones that hang around in your head. This is one of those.

Would I watch it again? Yeah, happily. Went solo this time and I'd do it again the same way. Would I recommend it to everyone I know? No chance. This is a specific-people movie. You either come in willing to meet it where it lives, or you bounce off it inside fifteen minutes and never look back. I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

But the people who can roll with it, the ones who don't need every movie to be cool and ironic and above caring about anything, they're going to find something here. I did.

Not a home run. Solid base hit, runner moving to third. I'll take it.