Bit of a hit and miss

Rating: 7/10 (29 January 2013)

This film could have been so much more.
Spielberg does a fine job in putting the audience in the government offices in the 1860's and give us an insight of the struggle Lincoln were faced with in bringing about a change, in a culture that did not like change. So much we take for granted today required many sacrifices, something we remain stubbornly ignorant of.
The issue I have with this movie, was the title. Why Lincoln? Who was Lincoln? Where did he get his values from? Who were his influences? Why, how and by whom did he die? All we get from Lincoln is the aspect of his life in government. Had the movie been titled "13th amendment", it would have been a different story altogether.
Despite the great narrative and cinematography, not to mention performances, it was too long with much of its substance lost to the display of political wrangling, which though utterly necessary the extent to which it was done disconnected me few times.
Furthermore, I found the anti-racist overtone done a little too much. The majority of today's audiences in the West despise racism and find slavery pure evil. We did not need a reminder throughout the film that slavery was plain wrong no matter what the angle, unless the film was made back in the 50's or 60s.
There's definitely greatness in this film, but it is also greatly overrated.