Astonishing

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2012)

I don't impress easily when it comes to films of the past 20 years, and I haven't liked much of Spielberg's recent work, but this movie took my breath away. I came in as an avid Lincoln/Civil War buff, and, having read volumes on the man already, was fully prepared to be let down. It is tricky stuff to attempt to portray a man as complex and significant as Lincoln, both for the actor and for the writers and directors. The tendency would seem to be to turn him into a cartoon version or to miss his essence entirely. Doris Kearns-Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" was the best, most inspiring book I've read on Lincoln, and I was also doubtful that even a movie as lengthy as this could capture enough of him to do it justice. Spielberg demonstrated true genius by taking this legendary, vast, mountain of a life and distilling it down to one small window of time and by showing him move through his days (with both work and family)the director manages to hone in on his subject with laser precision. Day-Lewis (as you either already have experienced, or have deduced from other reviews) BECAME Lincoln. There are not enough superlatives to describe his work as an actor in this role. Almost as amazingly, Fields, Jones, and Strathairn all met the challenge.
If I had any quibbles, it would only be the opening dialogue between Lincoln and the black soldiers . . . unless someone can demonstrate that conversation actually happened, I wouldn't buy it for a second. I've docked one star from my rating for that one flub, but since I'd give it an 11 out of 10, it still comes off with a perfect score! This is a must see. Forget any complaints about too many words, not enough action. If that bothers you, go see another Avengers movie, and forget about learning the meaning of true heroism.