Excellent Historical Drama

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2013)

First off, LINCOLN is more about the passage of the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery in the U.S. and all the haggling that took place in the House of Representatives beforehand than it is about Abe Lincoln personally. The entire story takes place in the early months of 1865 as the Civil War is winding down.
Lincoln does, of course, play a pivotal role as the central character in his proposal and backing of the Amendment (yet still, kind of not wanting the war to end before it was voted upon in order to keep the Southern delegations out of the vote). There is also a fine subplot concerning Lincoln's life with his wife and sons, all of whom are admirably played. Day-Lewis really shines in his role as a Lincoln who is neither saint nor sinner, with a smooth, velvety, and vaguely southern(!) accent. Many of the supporting cast--most particularly, Jared Harris as Ulysses Grant--are also memorably portrayed.
This may not sound terribly exciting to some, but the acting, storyline, scenery and everything else are so arresting that those people are likely to forget not being all that interested. Along with the vital ingredient of plot, some other best things about "Lincoln" are its setting and costume design: This film probably conveys the Civil War period better than any that I've seen. There isn't much actual showing of the war, but a couple of very brief but vivid and ultra-realistic battleground scenes really spice things up. Both in Washington and in the brief scenes elsewhere, the cinematography takes you there in a powerful way.
Finally, this film is very revealing about the "buying" of votes in Congress and effectively shows how political processes worked and continue to work. A fascinating bit of historical and political intrigue.
A couple of tips:
--Younger audiences, unless they happen to have an unusual interest in political processes, are likely to be bored with LINCOLN.
--If you aren't all that up on Secretary of State William Seward, Representative Thaddeus Stevens, and some of the various other players, it might be helpful to read-up a little on them before watching this.