A Well-Made Period Piece

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2019)

Though held up by an outstandingly immersive lead performance, this is not so much an exploration of the man himself and what made him great as it is a look at the turbulent nature of the government over which he presided. The film plays under a shadowed atmosphere of nationwide despair which can have an unfortunate effect on its pacing however, its set design and visual style succeed in effortlessly transporting the audience into distinct 19th Century surroundings while remaining as grounded and true-to-life as we'd expect from an expert like Spielberg.