A vivid, accurate look at history.

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2012)

Overall, I thought this was a great movie. The actors did a phenomenal job embracing their roles and making it feel real. The elaborate costumes and sets definitely helped that. Probably the most profound thing i took away from the movie is a new perspective of Lincoln as a person. Previously, I always thought of Lincoln as the president, or even as the concepts he promoted. This movie, however, does a great job on highlighting the personal struggles Lincoln had to deal with during this tumultuous time, and it really made me realize there is a "person" behind this famous presidency. Moreover, as a student in US history this year, I felt that the film was very accurate in comparison to history. I feel the film did a great job of highlighting the turmoil happening between the northerners themselves during this time, which is largely unknown. Many more were against what Lincoln was doing as president than we may realize and the scene with the couple in Lincoln's office along with the scenes regarding the passage of the amendment are prime examples the writers use to show the turmoil. I also think they did a good job of portraying Lincoln's cabinet and it's differences. Lincoln purposefully chose a cabinet that held ideas that did not totally agree with his own, and the movie portrays this accurately. The only complaint I have is that I went in to the movie pretty much knowing the story line since I have studied it this year, and I felt it was hard to follow at times.