MOVIE OF THE WEEK: (11/16/12): LINCOLN
"No one rocks a chinstrap like good 'ol Honest Abe!" Daniel Day-Lewis prepares to talk to the Union troops as the titular character in an early scene from Steven Spielberg's take on the 16th president in LINCOLN. Credit: © 2012 DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC & Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, David Strathairn, John Hawkes, Jared Harris, Jackie Earle Haley, Tim Blake Nelson and Hal Holbrook
WRITER(S): Tony Kushner (screenplay); Doris Kearns Goodwin ('Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln')
WRITER(S): Tony Kushner (screenplay); Doris Kearns Goodwin ('Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln')
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
THE PLOT: A film director Steven Spielberg years trying to bring to the big screen, Lincoln focuses on the final months of the life of the 16th president with the Civil War reaching its bloody ongoing peak. Daniel Day-Lewis takes on the title role, playing the president as a man determined to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, but wise enough to know that the process will become longer and more arduous as it drags on.
Despite opposition on the floor of the House of Representatives, the President is determine to push the issue on. That's why the President is relying on his key men – Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn), the influential Preston Blair (Hal Holbrook), Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Bruce McGill) and longtime abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) and political operatives W.N. Bilbo (James Spader), Robert Latham (John Hawkes) and Richard Shell (Tim Blake Nelson)– to help get the task done. But as the Civil War drags on, Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) continues to see the body count rise on both sides, which is why Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens is ready to talk about ending the conflict.
Further complicating things on the home front, Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) is having her own issues following stemming from the death of a child. Then again, the couple's eldest son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is feeling conflicted since he wants to join the Union army and his parents don't want him anywhere near the front lines ...
So can Lincoln juggle the passing of the 13th Amendment before ending the Civil War without splitting the Union internally at the same time? We'll see what history has to say about that ...
Despite opposition on the floor of the House of Representatives, the President is determine to push the issue on. That's why the President is relying on his key men – Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn), the influential Preston Blair (Hal Holbrook), Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Bruce McGill) and longtime abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) and political operatives W.N. Bilbo (James Spader), Robert Latham (John Hawkes) and Richard Shell (Tim Blake Nelson)– to help get the task done. But as the Civil War drags on, Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) continues to see the body count rise on both sides, which is why Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens is ready to talk about ending the conflict.
Further complicating things on the home front, Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) is having her own issues following stemming from the death of a child. Then again, the couple's eldest son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is feeling conflicted since he wants to join the Union army and his parents don't want him anywhere near the front lines ...
So can Lincoln juggle the passing of the 13th Amendment before ending the Civil War without splitting the Union internally at the same time? We'll see what history has to say about that ...
THE TAKE: There is literally no way to encompass the entire life of Abraham Lincoln on film, so if you go into the movie thinking that you are going to see something of that nature, you might be disappointed. But you shouldn't be, for Lincoln is a very definitive portrait that, while it at times does almost deify him to a Jesus like at some points, does exactly what Spielberg set out to do: Showcase the lasting legacy of the man and his most important contribution to America.
Acting-wise, Day-Lewis does his usual phenomenal work as the 16th president, which is to be expected as he captures every internal conflict, professional struggle and the drive that led to accomplish great things. Adding in strong contributions are James Spader as the humorous Bilbo, Field as Mary Todd Lincoln and the continuing to prove his worth Gordon-Levitt as his eldest son.
While Day-Lewis is the unquestioned star of the film, the real star of the film is the way in which Spielberg in his classic fashion brings Lincoln's life to light and showcases all of the ways in which the issues in the film remain relevant to this day. While Spielberg may have delayed the release of the film to prevent it from being tied into the recent presidential election, there's no denying it has as much relevance to issues of race, civil rights and values in 2012 as much as it did in 1865. That is the true staying power of the film which, while not perfect, is a attention grabbing watch from start to finish.
Acting-wise, Day-Lewis does his usual phenomenal work as the 16th president, which is to be expected as he captures every internal conflict, professional struggle and the drive that led to accomplish great things. Adding in strong contributions are James Spader as the humorous Bilbo, Field as Mary Todd Lincoln and the continuing to prove his worth Gordon-Levitt as his eldest son.
While Day-Lewis is the unquestioned star of the film, the real star of the film is the way in which Spielberg in his classic fashion brings Lincoln's life to light and showcases all of the ways in which the issues in the film remain relevant to this day. While Spielberg may have delayed the release of the film to prevent it from being tied into the recent presidential election, there's no denying it has as much relevance to issues of race, civil rights and values in 2012 as much as it did in 1865. That is the true staying power of the film which, while not perfect, is a attention grabbing watch from start to finish.
PARTING SHOT: An ambitious film whose subject matter – for better and for worse – is still relevant today, Lincoln may not be a complete portrait of the man behind the legacy, but it is a pretty fine one nonetheless.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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