Review - Lincoln

Rating: 10/10 (28 November 2012)

Anybody searching for a biography film about Abraham Lincoln's full life and "major" events will have to look elsewhere. Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (which I saw in the theater over Thanksgiving weekend) has a brief battle scene at the beginning, and a few scenes near the end taking place around (and during) the time of the assassination, but most of the film (and the meat of the film) is confined to January 1865, and is about Lincoln striving to get the 13th amendment to the Constitution (banning slavery) passed.
If you ask me, limiting the time frame of the film like this was a very smart decision. Showing all the major events of his life is not necessary; this film, with its shorter time frame, does a great job at it. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it does a better job of it than a traditional bio-pic would. The film doesn't really want to show his life, but rather paint a true portrait of the man himself; who was he, really, as a person, president, etc.? The film is restricted mostly (although not entirely) to offices, courtrooms, Capitol chambers, and places like that, but it still does a very good job at portraying the time period, visually, politically, and in every other way, and with good detail. In fact, while I generally don't find politics interesting or appealing, I actually found the political aspect of this film somewhat interesting.
Another major factor that makes the film work so well is the acting. Daniel Day-Lewis put on an excellent performance as Abraham Lincoln; deep, dynamic, powerful, and very convincing. In fact, his performance is what I liked best about the entire film. He didn't just portray Lincoln, he practically was Lincoln. He was pretty convincing in terms of physical appearance, but more importantly, he was almost perfect in terms of his character (in other words, becoming Lincoln). In short, Daniel Day-Lewis's portrayal of Lincoln is great and unforgettable, and completely Oscar-worthy (and he may actually win). All of the other actors (including Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) also put their best foot forward and deliver very good and convincing performances. They slip right into and bring out their characters.
Steven Spielberg has delivered again. He has directed several films that I like, some of them nostalgic favorites. He has made many different types of films, all across the genre spectrum; sci-fi, adventure, war, fantasy, history, serious films, fun films, etc etc. He's not perfect, and not all of his films are good, but, again, a lot of them are, and Lincoln is one such film, and one in which he again proves that he can make just about any type of film. In my opinion it's still not as good as some of his best films, like Schindler's List and War Horse, but it's still great. And once again, Spielberg has teamed up with score composer John Williams. Williams's score isn't anywhere near as good or memorable as a lot of his previous works, but it's still pretty good and it fits the film very well.
All in all, the film is not perfect, and it actually only scraped a full 10 from me by a little bit. It could have been better in some aspects, even some of its better aspects, but it's still a great film. Great performances, great historical portrayal, etc. In fact, if I had to label one film about Lincoln the definitive film about him, it would probably this one. The film brought me closer to the real-life figure of Lincoln than I have ever been before (literature, pictures, documentaries, etc.). I wouldn't be surprised if this film ends up being used in school and college history courses.
Lincoln is compelling and moving, and a film truly worthy of its title; it paints an excellent portrait of America's sixteenth president.
My Rating: **** (out of ****)
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