Portrays Lincoln's presidency during the Civil War, and second term while the thirteenth amendment is trying to be passed with influence from the Republican Party.

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2012)

The movie "Lincoln" by Steven Spielberg was a great movie that was able to portray the truest form of history. This movie was able to contain and use these historical standings by the acting for each character, the historical accuracy characters, and the portrayal of relationships throughout the movie. With any minor flaws this movie had it was still a great realistic movie that should be seen by people of all ages.
One great point of the movie is the acting abilities of each actor who plays key characters in "Lincoln". Daniel Day-Lewis was a great actor who was able to portray Lincoln with the most accuracy. With only few lines or scenes that had traces of over acting, he was able to use his acting talents to put himself into the shoes of Lincoln given the best performance. Another great quality of Daniel Day-Lewis is that he is able to not only capture Lincoln's personality, but found himself looking like the true Abe Lincoln. Along with the great performance from Daniel Day-Lewis was another character of importance Thaddeus Stevens, played by Tommy Lee Jones. He was a man of the radical Republican Party who had outlandish views. However he found himself changing views to insure that the thirteenth amendment, when signed would give slaves freedom, would pass. During this movie you are able to see how resilient he is to what is happening around him and you are able to see just how important this was to him, whether it was historical or not.
Another important point in the movie is how Spielberg portrays Lincoln and his family through the various relationships. One important relationship is between Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, played by Sally Field. In most research they found that the two had a relationship that was slightly strained. Lincoln always inquired about her sanity and this was after their tragic loss of a son. This was shown best when the two talk to each other throughout the film. There is also another great family aspect to this movie through Lincoln and his sons as he helps and learns from the changes they bring to the mood of the movie. One slight example is through all the comedic relief that is given from the youngest son Tad Lincoln, Gulliver McGrath, whenever there seems to be too much discussion or information Lincolns son finds himself at the right place at the right time. Showing these moments of a real family most people would find themselves enjoying the movie.
Even though most flaws are considered to be distracting with any found in this movie there is not enough to distract from the movies endearment that captures the audience. One flaw found is that the wrong flag was used to represent the United States, the fifty stars would not be tell around the 1900's, yet this flaw did not distract from the film itself. This movie is one that not only history fanatics should see but even those who find themselves going to movies in general.