An informing look at Abraham Lincoln's final days that's elevated by excellent performances.

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2012)

Lincoln is Steven Spielberg's best film since Munich (2005). For Lincoln he assembled a terrific cast, one of the best ever. The film is full of dialogue, a result of Tony Kushner's rich screenplay. Because of this Lincoln doesn't even seems like one of Spielberg's films. It doesn't have his typical thrills and action. In fact, it seems very much like a theater play. Daniel Day-Lewis's impressive performance was singled out by some critics as one worthy of a Best Actor Academy Award, but Day-Lewis is only the first among equals here. Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, a fervent abolitionist, has some of the best lines in the film. Sally Field as the grieving Mary Todd Lincoln is at the center of the film's dramatic subplot. Both Jones and Field deserve an Academy Award for their performances. James Spader as Republican Party operative William N. Bilbo steals every scene he's in. Other famous names in the cast include David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, Jackie Earle Haley, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jared Harris. Day-Lewis made his Lincoln a fully-realized and likable character. When he's talking one can't help but listen to his every word. The film covers the final four months of Abraham Lincoln's life, focusing on his efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution pass the United States House of Representatives. Slavery and war are the two issues here. It's made clear that it took a lot of effort to abolish slavery in the United States. The film presents arguments in favor and against slavery, though it's not a detailed look at American politics of that time. In addition, it seems like an idealized look at American politics. The Civil War was a war between the industrial North against the agrarian South. Seeing Lincoln is really like a trip back in time because the sets and the costumes are very good. In conclusion, the film is easily worth recommending.