"Lincoln" is a brilliant film demanding multiple viewings to take it all in

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2013)

I've been fascinated by Abraham Lincoln my entire life. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that he was assassinated and there's quite a bit of mystery and intrigue surrounding his presidency and personal life. He did so much in his terms in office and changed our nation for the better while overcoming all sorts of political opposition. I knew I would need to see Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" as soon as it was announced in production.
"Lincoln" focuses on the man's obsession with getting the 13th Amendment pushed through Congress before the Civil War ended. Abe was honest, but would see his mission of obliterating slavery accomplished by any means necessary. His drive and the toll it took on his family life are explored in great detail.
Director Steven Spielberg takes what could have been a disastrously boring two and a half hours of non-stop dialogue and somehow makes it engaging and tolerable. The success of the film is based around Spielberg's casting of Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role. Day-Lewis owns every moment he's on screen and demands your attention with every word he speaks. He's merely the cherry on top of a brilliant and dedicated cast that includes James Spader, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Fields, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Hawkes, David Strathairn, and many more.
Although they only took up a few moments of screen time, the scenes of the Civil War battlefields bore a lasting impression on me. The savageness of hand-to-hand combat was hard to watch. These soldiers fought hand-to-hand, which made it more personal. It wasn't a faceless war like today's, where we just drop bombs on each other and never have direct contact with the people we're fighting.
The fact that I stayed awake through two and a half hours of talking is a true testament of how well-paced and captivating "Lincoln" is. I'm really not one for talky and long-winded movies, but Spielberg's devoted obsession with the historical figure and Janusz Kaminski's masterful cinematography make the movie stand out and demand your undivided attention. It's a movie that requires multiple viewings, as there is so much being said so quickly that you're guaranteed to miss something important.