One of the finest historical films ever.

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2013)

History has told us Lincoln is responsible for abolishing slavery, but it's the exasperating hardships and personal sacrifices that forever altered the landscape and direction of this country. Making the amendment battle the cornerstone of the story reveals Lincoln as a simple man, yet equally complex. As the civil war rages on, Lincoln struggles with the carnage on the battlefield, as well as the conflict within his own cabinet pertaining to the Thirteenth Amendment. Spielberg wisely focuses the last three months of Lincoln's life, and his own crisis of conscience between ending the war or slavery. If you're not entirely sure why Lincoln is universally regarded as one of the greatest U.S. presidents going into this movie, you'll have no doubts by the time it's over.
Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't just play Lincoln--he inhabits him. It's a remarkable performance that won another Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Day-Lewis. With his Oscar winning performance as Lincoln, he became the sixth performer to win more than two Academy Awards, and the first male performer to win three awards for lead roles. Impressive secondary performances abound as well. Sally Field, as Lincoln's unstable wife, delivers a marvelous performance, as does Tommy Lee Jones as the fiery, passionate Thaddeus Stevens. "Lincoln" is an authentic, visual masterpiece--reproducing and portraying the landscape and atmosphere of the 19th century in extraordinary detail. The incredible performances receive most of the notoriety, and rightfully so, but the production values and set design are simply stunning. Jim Erickson (set decorator) and Rick Carter (production designer) both won Oscars for Best Achievement in Production Design.
One requirement upon seeing "Lincoln" is you must commit yourself to two and a half hours of laborious dialog and monologues, from a litany of characters encompassing a variety of topics. A major challenge Spielberg had to overcome is the wealth of information, history, and knowledge of the period--and fitting it into a structured, disciplined film. Throughout the film, there are an abundance of subtleties that can easily go unnoticed, and the demanding content of the film's script makes this a challenging picture to watch.
That being said, "Lincoln" belongs to the ages, and is one of the finest historical films ever made. Steven Spielberg's landmark motion picture enriches the American canon - freeing the Great Emancipator from his tintype image in our history books, and explores the wit and wisdom that made the man.