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
Screenplay by	Eric Roth Brian Helgeland
Produced by	Kevin Costner Steve Tisch Jim Wilson
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
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$17,626,234 (US)

The Postman is a 1997 American post-apocalyptic film directed by and starring Kevin Costner, and based on David Brin's 1985 novel of the same name. The film co-stars Will Patton, Larenz Tate, Olivia Williams, James Russo, and Tom Petty. It was filmed in Metaline Falls and Fidalgo Island, Washington, central Oregon, and Tucson, Arizona.

The film is set 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.

Plot

Roughly 10 to 15 years after an unspecified apocalypse referred to in terms of "strange weather", "the plague", "Bugs" and "three year winters" civilization collapses leaving pocketfuls of survivors in rural areas and small towns maintaining some semblance of civilization. Others have joined armies that prey on the survivors.

In 2013 an unnamed nomadic survivor (Costner) enters the flatlands of Oregon. Needing food and water he trades with small towns for performances of Shakespearian plays. The nomad is captured by and conscripted into a large neo-fascist calvery army known as the Holnists after deceased founder ex farmer Nathan Holn who is alluded in a letter to having contributed to the social collapse at the time of the general apocalypse. The army is now run by General Bethlehem (Will Patton).

During a hunting expidition the nomad, nicknamed Shakespere by the Holnists, escapes by jumping into a river. He takes refuge in a dead postman's mail carrier van. With a bag of mail and the dead postman's uniform, he arrives at Pineview, Oregon. He claims to be an actual postman from the newly restored government to gain entry. As he is able to produce a letter addressed to a member of the town, they give the Postman food and a place to live in the abandoned post office.

The Postman inspires a teenager named Ford Lincoln-Mercury (Larenz Tate), who presses him into swearing him into the faux restored postal service. The Postman is approached by Abby (Olivia Williams) seeking a "bodyfather" to impregnate her due to her husband's infertility. Pineview's sherriff is sceptical of "The Postman" telling him to get out of town the following day. Meanwhile, a pile of mail has been left at the door of the post office. Leaving Pineview, the residents give the postman a horse and the sheriff hopefully gives him a letter to his sister.

During a raid of Pineview, General Bethlehem learns of "the Postman" and his tales of restored government. Scared of losing his power, Bethlehem burns the American flag and post office. He kills Abby's husband when refused permission to have sex with her and kidnaps her. The Postman surrenders during a battle with the town of Benning, Oregon. The captive Abby captures a gun and fires on Bethlehem as he orders the execution of the postman. The two narrowly escape on horseback into the surrounding mountains, though the Postman has been badly wounded.

The Postman and Abby hide in an abandoned cabin. 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. She reveals that Ford Lincoln Mercury has organized a horseback postal service of his own. 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 and the postal carriers guerrilla warfare tactics.

His postal carriers, mostly teenagers pitted against a better-equipped enemy, encur mounting casualties. Dismayed after a reprisal execution by Bethlehem of 10 Pineview civilians, including the sheriff, the Postman orders everyone to disband. He leaves with a last letter he has written to Bethlehem, saying the postal service is over and that the restored government doesn't exist. Ford insists on delivering the message, knowing that he will be killed afterward. Bethlehem reads the letter and is disapointed that he has won without a fight. He oders Ford and another captured deliverer killed. When the two postal men meet, however, they do not know each other. The other man introduces himself as a postman from California. Bethlehem realizes that idea of the postaman has taken root and to destroy the idea of the postman for a "clean slate" he must kill the postman. He decides to keep Ford as a hostage, but murders the other postman.

The Postman, Abby and a small group of postal carriers travel to Bridge City, built on an old dam wall. The settlement is led by a celebrity from before the apocalypse, (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.

In a voice over of King Henry V's speech prior to the Battle of Agincourt, the Postman stirs himself to war. With a large number of calvery troops he rides to meet Bethlehem's calvery army. Relishing the challenge to full battle Bethlehem and his army meet the postman's army across a field. Not wanting casualties from the battle the Postman 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 leadership. Bethlehem realizes that the Postman and "Shakespeare" are the same man. He accepts the challenge and is defeated. He does not accept his loss or the Postman's subsequent offer to build a new, peaceful world. He captures a gun and tries to shoot the Postman but is killed by his former first officer. The officer surrenders himself and the rest of the Holnists follow. In a voice over Abby tells that she and the Postman have a baby girl, whom she names Hope. The post office continues, rebuilding the country.

The story concludes 30 years later. Hope attends a statue unveiling tribute to her late father, who is recently deceased, in St. Rose, Oregon. From the modern clothing, and signs of modern technology it is suggested that the country has grown in development to approximate its pre-apocalypse status. The statue bears 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 film, with the man saying "That's me.". 98.164.125.58 (talk) 19:22, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

Cast

• Kevin Costner as The Postman
• Will Patton as General Bethlehem
• Larenz Tate as Ford Lincoln Mercury (John Stevens)
• Olivia Williams as Abby
• James Russo as Captain Idaho
• Tom Petty as Bridge City Mayor (a future version of himself)
• Daniel von Bargen as Pineview Sheriff Briscoe
• 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

Untitled

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 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" – 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."

Reception

The Postman received negative reviews from critics.

Stephan Holden of The New York Times criticized 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 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.

According to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 3 out of 32 film critics gave the film a positive review, with a "Rotten" score of 9% and an average rating of 3.8/10. Metacritic gives the film a metascore of 29 out of 100 based on 14 reviews.

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

Box office

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

Awards and nominations

Award	Subject	Nominee	Result
Saturn Award	Best Science Fiction Film		Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Will Patton	Nominated
	Best Actor	Kevin Costner	Nominated
Razzie Award	Worst Actor		Won
	Worst Director		Won
	Worst Picture	Kevin Costner, Steve Tisch, and Jim Wilson	Won
	Worst Screenplay	Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland, based on the book by David Brin	Won
	Worst Original Song	The entire song selection	Won

References

• 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 Box Office Mojo
• The Postman at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Postman at Metacritic
• The Postman: The Movie, an impression by the author of the original novel, by David Brin.