lincoln movie

Movie Review: Lincoln

lincoln movieReel Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Reels
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for an intense scene of war violence, some images of carnage and brief strong language
Released in Theaters: Nov. 16, 2012
Genre: Drama, History, War
Runtime: 150 minutes
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley
Official Site: Lincoln Movie

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the few actors who can pull off a movie that consists mainly of talking, and it’s because he so fully disappears into his characters. You don’t feel like he’s simply studied the mannerisms and speech characteristics of Abraham Lincoln; you feel like he really IS this person. Under his acting skills, he brings Lincoln to life out of the pages of our history books.

There’s a striking difference between a performance like that and a performance where you realize you’re watching an actor playing a part. I love Tommy Lee Jones, but there was never a time in this film where I didn’t see his character and think, there’s Tommy Lee Jones playing Thaddeus Stevens.

I’m forgiving of this, because I do like Jones as an actor, and feel like he’s perfect for the role of Stevens, the uncompromising abolitionist congressman who wanted complete racial equality — not just the legal extinction of slavery. Still, there wasn’t one time where I watched Abraham Lincoln on screen and knew immediately it was Daniel Day-Lewis. Even if you actively look for him in the character, you probably won’t find him.

And of course, there’s the brilliance of director Steven Spielberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Tony Kushner, and author Doris Kearns Goodwin, who wrote the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, upon which this movie is based. You know immediately that this is a Spielberg film because of the amazing attention to detail played out in everything from the interior of the White House to the era-specific costumes to the carnage of the battlefields. Even the coloring of the film itself has an antique quality to it.

lincoln movie

The story begins in the muddy battlefields of the Civil War, but then moves immediately to Washington, D.C., where President Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) has just been re-elected. It’s January of 1865, and the Confederacy likely won’t survive another spring in the ongoing Civil War.

Lincoln is also focused on passing the 13th Amendment, which would outlaw slavery in the entire Union. He has the help of his Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn), but also hires three political negotiators (James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Hawkes) to convince at least 20 of the House of Representatives’ Democrats to vote for the bill.

Even though this story occurred 147 years ago, you can see how the machinations of the Washington government are still played out today. Like our current government, politicians have deep convictions and are not easily swayed to the other side. There are back-room maneuverings and the promise of jobs and positions. If we are to believe Goodwin and Day-Lewis’ representation of Lincoln, you can see that he knew how to play the game, and did so brilliantly, perfecting the art of reaching across party lines to move the country forward.

Meanwhile, Lincoln struggles in his personal life, dealing with his son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, also unrecognizable in the role), who’s desperate to enlist, and wife Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field), who’s still in grief over the loss of her son Willie to illness. The movie ends with the killing of Lincoln, but it makes me want to read more about Mary, and how she coped with her instability after the loss of her husband.

Lincoln isn’t necessarily a biopic; who knows for sure what went on behind closed doors and how the President acted and reacted to situations? But it’s a great history lesson for both kids and adults, and Day-Lewis’ performance is an excellent character study about the final months of a legendary President who displayed a gift for the spoken word and a quiet dignity even in the darkest of hours.

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JANE’S REEL RATING SYSTEM:
One Reel – Even the Force can’t save it.
Two Reels – Coulda been a contender
Three Reels – Something to talk about.
Four Reels – You want the truth? Great flick!
Five Reels – Wow! The stuff dreams are made of.

Comments

7 responses to “Movie Review: Lincoln”

  1. […] source: https://www.reellifewithjane.com/2012/12/movie-review-lincoln/ This entry was posted in Celebrity News and tagged movie, today. Bookmark the permalink. […]

  2. […] 18th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, and they spread the love around in a very close race. Lincoln lead the pack with 13 nominations and Les Miserables followed with 11 nods, while Silver Linings […]

  3. […] for the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning, and Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s drama about the famed president’s final days in office, led the race with […]

  4. Vera Marie Badertscher Avatar

    Finally saw the movie and I loved the amazing cast. Choices were brilliant, I thought. I had been concerned about Sally Fields being able to disappear into Mary Lincoln, but the problem I had with the film was not Fields’ terrific job–it was that there was so little depth to the portrayal of Mary Lincoln. Her one big scene flailing out at Thaddeus Stevens at a White House reception, seems to come out of nowhere and go on too long. Other than that, I loved the gritty reality of life in those times and loved, loved, loved, the reality of the politics. By the way, Jane, those three guys were not “negotiators”–they were back-room “fixers.” Sneaky and underhanded stuff.

  5. […] Read my full review of “Lincoln” here.  […]

  6. […] Read my full review of “Lincoln” here.  […]

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