Boring, dull and plodding but excellently acted

Rating: 5/10 (5 December 2012)

I know I'm in the minority but this film is very boring. The first hour drags on and on explaining the 13th Amendment and it could have been edited down to a 10 or 15 minute seen. It's a pondering movie. I'm not sure what the revelation is about Lincoln in this movie. He's portrayed as he always has been: a revolutionary leader, great mind, folksy and very political when need be. The most interesting part of the movie is his relationship with his wife played by Sally Field. When she comes on the scene at least we have some fire, drama and neuroses. The rest of the film is a good old boys club and quite frankly not very entertaining. You could argue, I guess, that the political content is the guts of the film but it's not presented in an interesting way. The acting is exceptional but I consider this film as disappointing as the MGM 1936 Crawford vehicle about Andrew Jackson directed by Clarence Brown: The Gorgeous Hussy. In that film as well there is an exceptional cast dragging their weight to make something interesting out of American History. This is a modern day version of a bloated, antiquated Hollywood bio picture. Paging Wilson anyone???