The Postman (film)

This article is about the 1997 film. For the 1994 film, see Il Postino.

The Postman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kevin Costner
Produced by	Kevin Costner Steve Tisch Jim Wilson
Screenplay by	Eric Roth Brian Helgeland
Based on	Novel: David Brin
Starring	Kevin Costner Will Patton Olivia Williams Larenz Tate James Russo Tom Petty
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Stephen Windon
Editing by	Peter Boyle
Studio	Tig Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	December 25, 1997 (1997-12-25)
Running time	178 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$17,626,234 (USA)

The Postman is an American post-apocalyptic epic film based on the 1985 novel of the same name by David Brin. It was filmed in northeastern Washington (Metaline Falls), Fidalgo Island, Washington, central Oregon and Tucson, Arizona, and was directed by Kevin Costner, who also stars in the film. The film co-stars Will Patton, Larenz Tate, Olivia Williams, James Russo, Daniel von Bargen, Tom Petty, Scott Bairstow, Roberta Maxwell, Mary Stuart Masterson and George Wyner.

The film is set in the northwestern United States after an unspecified apocalypse has left a huge impact on human civilization. A nomadic survivor flees a warlord's army while unwittingly inspiring hope of restoring peace.

The film was released on Christmas Day 1997 by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Plot summary

In 2013, global society collapses and nuclear war (it is later revealed that there was a war in Europe) has crippled civilization, leaving only pockets of surviving communities. Into this wasteland comes an enigmatic and nomadic survivor (Kevin Costner), wandering the flatlands of Oregon. Needing food and water, he trades performances of Shakespearean plays (with his co-star mule, Bill), in every small settlement he finds. A neo-fascist army run by General Bethlehem (Will Patton), which takes supplies and prisoners, captures the nomad and decides to add him into the army's ranks. These Holnists are a remnant force formerly under farmer-turned-general, Nathan Holn, who had long since died. Bethlehem (a former copier salesman) has since taken command of the army.

Each member of the large army is branded on the arm with a figure "8." Bethlehem's command staff is loyal, specifically a captain, Idaho (James Russo), who is particularly cruel. The force is held together through fear, with death as the only punishment for infractions. Bethlehem sees the nomad as a threat and an asset, due to his obvious intelligence and self-confidence. He nicknames the nomad "Shakespeare", due to his abilities to quote the Bard. The nomad is not impressed by Bethlehem, and does not want to fight in the army. Knowing that he will be killed if he leaves, he bides his time, waiting for a chance to escape.

Eventually, "Shakespeare" is selected for a hunting expedition for a lion spotted earlier. He finds the body of a scout and, while bringing the body back to camp, makes his escape by jumping into a river. He later takes refuge in an abandoned mail carrier van with the skeleton of the postal carrier still inside, he takes a bag of undelivered mail, reads some of the letters and changes into the warm postal uniform. After burying the postal carrier he sets off, arriving at Pineview, a settlement in lower Oregon. He claims to be an actual postman, from the newly restored government, to gain entry. He claims the new capital is based in Minneapolis and led by a new president named Richard Starkey. He's able to produce a letter addressed to a member of the town, written by her sister in Denver 15 years earlier. While some are still skeptical, the majority seem convinced, wanting to believe in a newly restored nation. They proceed to give the Postman more mail to deliver.

The Postman inspires a teenager named Ford Lincoln Mercury (Larenz Tate), and swears him into the faux restored postal service. One night, the Postman is approached by Abby (Olivia Williams), a woman seeking a "bodyfather" to impregnate her due to her husband's infertility. Initially hesitant, but with her husband's blessing, the Postman spends the night with Abby before fleeing the town. Days later, during a raid of Pineview, General Bethlehem learns of "the Postman" and his tales of restored government. He considers it an act of treason, not realizing that "Shakespeare" and "the Postman" are the same man.

Bethlehem burns the American flag and new post office. Later, he kills Abby's husband when refused permission to have sex with her. Bethlehem eventually discovers the Postman during a battle with the towns of Benning, Oregon, whose citizens made a stand after being inspired by the Postman. Abby is rescued from Bethlehem's army, and the two narrowly escape into the surrounding mountains, though the Postman has been badly wounded.

The Postman and Abby hide in an abandoned cabin in the Blue Mountains. Although he wants to stay there and avoid trouble, Abby convinces him to return. Abby tells the Postman she is pregnant with his child. As spring arrives, the two cross the range and run into a young girl, who claims to be a postal carrier. It is revealed that Ford Lincoln Mercury has left Pineview and organized a postal service of his own, connecting the area's communities. They help towns and settlements to communicate and inadvertently spread the fictional tales of a restored government.

Bethlehem orders the execution of the postal carriers, and the ensuing fights escalate into a running small-scale war. The Postman gets help from a Vietnam War veteran, who teaches him guerrilla warfare tactics. However, his postal carriers are mostly teenagers pitted against a better-equipped enemy. The mounting casualties dismay the Postman, who orders everyone to disband. He writes one last letter to be delivered to Bethlehem, saying the postal service is over and that the restored government is gone. Ford volunteers to deliver the message, knowing that he will be killed afterward. Bethlehem reads the letter but does not believe it is over, and he plans to kill Ford and another captured deliverer. When the two captured postal men meet, however, they do not know each other: The other man introduces himself as a postman from California, meaning that other areas of the country are beginning working toward restoration as well (likely inspired by the Postman's example). Bethlehem realizes that the ideal of a rebuilding (with the postmen as catalyst and product of restoration) is loose and unable to be contained, and that Ford's death will stop nothing. He decides to keep Ford as a hostage, but murders the other postman.

The Postman, Abby and a small group of postal carriers travel west, away from the Holnists' territory. They come to Bridge City, built on an old dam wall. The settlement is run by a celebrity from before the war, Tom Petty (though never mentioned by name, it is alluded to that he was "famous once."). Seemingly trapped between the dam and Bethlehem's scouts, the enclave leader helps the Postman to escape on a cable car to find volunteers for an army to fight Bethlehem's forces. Before leaving, the Postman and Abby spend their last moments together, as they have fallen in love.

The Postman gathers a large number of volunteers in a last-ditch attempt to end the conflict. Using King Henry V's speech prior to the Battle of Agincourt, the Postman manages to rally his troops. However, not wanting any actual casualties from the battle, the Postman personally challenges Bethlehem for Holnist leadership, invoking "Law 7," which he learned of during his time in the conscript army. The law states any Holnist member can challenge the leader and if victorious, take his spot. Bethlehem realizes that the Postman and "Shakespeare" are the same man; he accepts the challenge but is defeated. He does not accept his loss and tries to shoot the Postman, but is killed by his former first officer (Joe Santos). The officer then surrenders himself to the Postman, and the rest of the Holnists follow. After Abby and the Postman settle in Bridge City, she gives birth to a baby girl, whom she names Hope.

The story concludes 30 years later, when Hope (Mary Stuart Masterson), attends a tribute in St. Rose, Oregon, to her late father. From the modern clothing and signs of modern technology, it is suggested that the country has grown in development to approximate its pre-war status. A statue is unveiled with the inscription, "He delivered a message of hope embraced by a new generation,". A man and his wife stare at the statue of the Postman catching a letter from a small boy—echoing a scene from earlier in the movie—and the man quietly whispers, "That was me."

Cast

• Kevin Costner as The Postman (Gordon Krantz)
• Will Patton as General Bethlehem
• Larenz Tate as Ford Lincoln Mercury (John Stevens)
• Olivia Williams as Abby
• James Russo as Captain Idaho
• Daniel von Bargen as Pineview Sheriff Briscoe
• Tom Petty as Bridge City Mayor (a future version of himself)
• Scott Bairstow as Luke
• Giovanni Ribisi as Bandit 20
• Roberta Maxwell as Irene March
• Joe Santos as Colonel Getty
• Ron McLarty as Old George
• Brian Anthony Wilson as Woody
• Peggy Lipton as Ellen March
• Rex Linn as Mercer
• Shawn Hatosy as Billy
• Ryan Hurst as Eddie March
• Charles Esten as Michael
• Anne Costner as Ponytail
• Ty O'Neal as Drew
• Andrew Babel as Captain Strikard
• Cary Jordan as Dr. Stevens (Psychologist)
• Ellen Geer as Pineview Woman
• Tom Bower as Larry
• Lily Costner as Lily March
• Joe Costner as Letter Boy
• Judy Herrera as Carrier
• Greg Serano as California Carrier
• Mary Stuart Masterson as Hope, the Postman's daughter (uncredited)
• Joseph McKenna as Holnist Captain
• George Wyner as Benning Mayor

Soundtrack

The Postman (Music From The Motion Picture)
Film score by James Newton Howard
Released	12/23/1997
Label	Warner Sunset/Warner Bros.

1. Main Titles
2. Shelter In The Storm
3. The Belly Of The Beast
4. General Bethlehem
5. Abby Comes Calling
6. The Restored United States
7. The Postman
8. "Almost Home" - Performed by Jono Manson
9. "It Will Happen Naturally" - Performed by Jono Manson
10. "The Next Big Thing - Performed by Jono Manson
11. "This Perfect World" - Performed by John Coinman
12. "Once This Was The Promise Land" - Performed by John Coinman
13. "I Miss My Radio" - Performed by Jono Manson and John Coinman
14. "Come And Get Your Love" - Performed by John Coinman
15. "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" - Performed by Amy Grant and Kevin Costner

Cast and crew information

On his personal website, author David Brin reveals that while the studios were bidding for The Postman, his wife decided during a screening of Field of Dreams that Kevin Costner should portray The Postman. Brin agreed that the emotions invoked 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" - more so when Costner's interpretation of the Postman's character was similar to Brin's. Costner threw out 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.

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."

Differences from the novel

Aside from a few characters' names and the names of locations, and the overall setting, it bears almost no relation to the book, whether thematically or in regards to its almost entirely different internal story. It casts the character of the postman as the sole savior of society, whereas in the book he is merely one of many. It is also of note that in the novel a resistance was already ongoing and was in fact winning, driving the holnists into the region where the story takes place. In the Novel, the postman inspires the northern Oregon people to join the rebellion and fight back, whereas in the movie he is the catalyst of the entire conflict. Of particular note, the way in which Gordon begins his false postman act is very different; where in the book it was a simple misunderstanding that Gordon used to help save a village that later grew out of his control, in the movie the lie is portrayed as much more of an intentional con job that morphs into a perpetuated lie. The science fiction and gender roles story lines involving Cyclops, the genetically engineered super-soldiers, and Dena's warriors are absent, the first two perhaps due to the overly optimistic pace of technological development envisioned by Brin in the original work. Brin had posited fully sentient artificial intelligence and cybernetic technology as an invention of the mid 1990s, which might have been awkward for a movie going audience in the 1990s. The Holnists also serve a very different role; in the novel they are the root cause of the collapse of society, where in the movie they developed as a result of it. Additionally, the movie has a completely different, more final ending.

Reception

The Postman received negative reviews. The New York Times' Stephan Holden gave a scathing review criticizing the movie for its "bogus sentimentality" and "mawkish jingoism". Roger Ebert described The Postman as "good-hearted" yet "goofy... and pretentious". However, Ebert recognized the movie as a failed parable, for which he said the viewers "shouldn't blame them for trying". On the show At the Movies, Siskel & Ebert gave the film "Two Thumbs Down", with Gene Siskel calling it "Dances with Myself" (in reference to Costner's Oscar-winning film Dances With Wolves) while referring to the bronze statue scene.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, 9% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 31 reviews, with an average critic rating of 3.8 out of 10. Metacritic gives the film a metascore of 29 out of 100 based on 14 reviews.

The film was also a notable failure at the box office. Produced on an estimated $80 million budget, it returned less than $18 million.

The Simpsons parodied The Postman in the 1999 episode "Monty Can't Buy Me Love", where Lisa watches the film on DVD at a new megastore. The movie is depicted as The Postman just walking aimlessly, with Costner repeatedly apologizing for the film on the commentary track.

Awards and nominations

Award	Subject	Nominee	Result
Saturn Award	Best Science Fiction Film	The Postman	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Will Patton	Nominated
	Best Actor	Kevin Costner	Nominated
Razzie Award	Worst Actor		Won
	Worst Director		Won
	Worst Picture		Won
		Steve Tisch	Won
		Jim Wilson	Won
	Worst Screenplay	Eric Roth	Won
		Brian Helgeland	Won
	Worst Original Song	The entire song score	Won
	Worst Picture of the Decade	The Postman	Nominated

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 the Internet Movie Database
• The Postman at AllRovi
• The Postman at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Postman: The Movie, an impression by the author of the original novel, by David Brin.

Awards
Preceded by Striptease	Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture 18th Golden Raspberry Awards	Succeeded by An Alan Smithee Film Burn Hollywood Burn