Despite being far too dry, Daniel Day-Lewis makes this film with enough warmth, authority and iconography to justify the man himself.

Rating: 8/10 (26 June 2013)

I remember back when Lincoln was just a rumour. A rumour with Liam Neeson attached to star. It appeared like a dream team reunion too good to be true. Perhaps enough to redeem Spielberg's uninteresting last 10 years. Although I admire Daniel Day-Lewis, I must admit I was disappointed when Neeson dropped out, but now I can't picture anyone else. I love Day-Lewis' performances in My Left Foot and There Will Be Blood, but his Abraham Lincoln was on an unprecedented plain of acting I wasn't sure he was capable of and at least belongs among those two. He brings such warmth, authority and iconography to the role that it's upsetting when he's not on screen. Although the writing is almost like a play with far too much dialogue- driven scenes that it may as well be a filmed play, it develops his character very well with little human moments and profound philosophical ideas that are interesting just for the fact they come from such an important figure in American history.
Unfortunately, the deliberately saturated aesthetics don't justify itself being a film, and pace aside (which is already pleasantly slow), it could've easily be exactly the same product on the stage. It has moments, but it's not nearly as cinematic as it could be. Granted, that makes it feel more mature for Spielberg, especially after having War Horse last year, but it also feels like a dry history lesson. I can already imagine the generations of American kids having to watch it that I feel like it already has the reputation it can only have in 10 years time. There are many opportunities to show and not tell that Spielberg doesn't take, the main one and most interesting one being not showing Lincoln's assassination. While that shrinks the scale of the film dramatically, it also shrinks the intimacy. So Lincoln is sitting somewhere in the middle, but it's certainly on the good side, elevated by its excellent performances. Although Sally Field is over-dramatic in her few scenes, Tommy Lee Jones subtle performance is thoroughly compelling and a highlight of the supporting cast along with David Strathairn and Lee Pace.
Part passion project and Oscar bait, it's difficult to detach it from its awards hype. This is the last of the Oscar films I had left to see, and before Argo's reign, I went in expecting it to be a viewing of a Best Picture in the making. Personally, I'd consider them on a par, with Silver Linings Playbook and Les Miserables my favourites to win but only the former has a sliver of a chance. Lincoln feels like it was designed to be a Best Picture, sitting on the same shelf as Gandhi and The King's Speech, and in a way, it deserves to be, I just wish those films could actually be masterpieces, rather than crowd-drawers. If it wasn't for The Master, Day-Lewis would be an easy win but I look forward to seeing him onstage, most likely with Jones. I learned quite a lot from Lincoln, as I've never had a true history lesson on the man or events being not from the U.S.A. but a viewer is a visual learner more than anything and the actions of Lincoln speak louder than its words, despite the imbalance of ratio. At least it somewhat lives up to the promise of the premise and talent.
7/10