Excellent and not dull

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2013)

This is an excellent film despite the usual Spielbergian visual flourishes that clunk or exasperate in equal measure. The plot revolves around the final months of Lincoln's Presidency when he tried to push the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery through the House of Representatives in January 1865. The focus switches between the shenanigans and politicking to get 20 votes from the amenable and wavering Congressmen and Abe's home life with a distraught and grieving wife and a son who wants to enlist. The film is saved from over-worthiness and just being a drama doc by the towering and astonishing performance by Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln. The acting is uniformally good, the staging and production values excellent. Problems lie with the over-sanctification of Lincoln (cue bright shining lights from above onto Lincoln) by not including obvious bad contradictory elements to the story, and the playfulness of the script and director towards their liberal agenda, eg in your second term use your political clout to end the war! Will Obama take note? The complaints seem to be from the younger generation who cannot sit still and listen to a polished dramatic script that is conversational - tough, youngsters, this is not Iron Man 1865! I saw it with an audience of over-55s - it was watched in silence!!! Start weening yourselves off popcorn and popcorn movies, will you critics!