Memorial worthy movie making.

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2012)

Steven Spielberg, America's greatest movie director, has made over 20 feature films. He's had a few misses, but mostly he's been very good to excellent & he's had a few outright classics & "Lincoln" is one of those classics.
Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of those very few hype-proof performances. No matter how much praise you have heard about his portrayal of the 16th President Of The United States you are still not quite prepared for it (reminding me of Heath Ledger's work as "The Joker" in this regard). His Lincoln is very lived in, worn but not worn down, looking like the weight of the nation is upon his shoulders & looking strong enough to bear up under it. He's funny, warm, calculating, coarse, smarter than most, but wise enough to know he doesn't have all the answers. He has a code that will not break. Day-Lewis's turns in a performances that rates alongside Pacino's Michael Corleone & Ledger's villainous turn as my all-time favorite.
However there are other great performances in this film, most notably by Tommy Lee Jones as a crucial ally to get the 13th Amendment passed during the final weeks of Lincoln's life that the film covers. Every key actor in this prodigious cast has a moment or two that stuns.
None of this is possible without a script by Tony Kushner that may even surpass Day-Lewis's work. It features more than a few speeches written with a love of the language--of English & the English of that time-- rarely heard anywhere in America & they are often thrillingly delivered by a cast up to the challenge. It is also rich in irony (I don't think the Democratic Party during this period would've won the "black vote".)
So all that Spielberg has to do is yell "Action!" & "Cut!". Of course it's not that simple. The great gift of a great director is to know how much guidance is needed to get the job done. There are no obvious Spielberg moments here (like another Kushner scripted movie, "Munich", that he directed), but you know that you're in the hands of a cinematic master.
John Williams' score is subtle. Michael Kahn's cutting let the moments breathe without ever dragging out too long. Janusz Kaminski has said that he merely let his cinematography "serve the story", but he's being a bit too humble. His shots are a stunning parade of shadows & natural light. They don't call attention themselves but, nevertheless, it is a beautiful movie to watch. The set design, costumes, art direction & everything else are Oscar worthy.
"Lincoln" isn't a movie you "should" see (although you should) it is a movie you'll want to see. Despite it lack of physical action it is every bit as entertaining as "Argo" & "The Dark Knight Rises".