A Lincoln for our times...

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2013)

Finally caught up with the magnificence that is LINCOLN. Tony Kushner's script is a masterclass in finding the universal in the particular and the humanity in the history. Spielberg's direction captures every nuance, aided by a cast of America's best actors at the top of their game inspired by a towering central performance.
For, make no mistake, Daniel Day Lewis delivers a Lincoln that is totally convincing from the first moment he appears on screen and dominates throughout, often without speaking or even moving. He just IS Lincoln from his high-pitched Kentucky voice (spot on according to Harold Holzer's research) to his idiosyncratic walk. His last exit from the White House is astonishingly moving.
I'm not a fan of method acting myself but it works here so well that I am utterly convinced that I have seen the real Lincoln. Many times I found myself in tears and utterly rapt in a long film that is both preachy and talky and yet works as well as an Aaron Sorkin political drama (or BORGEN, for aficionados).
I even came to understand the complex difficult Mary Todd Lincoln thanks to Sally Field's full-on interpretation and sensitive playing between the two leads in their scenes together.
It's said we get the Lincoln for our times and this one is aimed so directly at Obama as he enters his second and last term it might as well be gift-wrapped and sent registered post. Don't miss it because it's the Leading Actor performance not just of the year but of the decade.