Beautiful, brilliantly acted but a wasted opportunity

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2016)

I had a friend who's brother worked in Hollywood. He told me that the rumours were that they were going to turn Doris Kearns Goodwins novel into a film directed by none other than Steven Spielberg. A small part of me started to suspect that my reason for being on this planet was for this. What an utterly incredible film that would have been!!!!! Raised by his mentally backward and physically abusive widowed father on the plains and then, with his little brothers and sisters abandoned over a savage winter with pumas growling at the door to fend for themselves and found 6 months later reduced to practically animals themselves. Uneducated and in poverty, leaving the "house" at 18 when finding out he was no longer under his fathers yolk, learning to read and write by reading a bible lent to him by a friend, going on to practise law, moving into politics and eventually going on via many political setbacks to defeat the almost invincible William Seward, (who actually had the victory guns at his house ready to boom as his nomination was announced) and Edwin Stanton and then- if that was not enough!!- to become the greatest President of all time through a savage civil war that united the country. In my humble opinion, it would, at great length admittedly- have knocked Gone With The Wind out of the park. Someone, somewhere, as we say in England, "lost their bottle" and shaved it down to the 13th amendment fight. What a wasted opportunity from a country keen to take risks in movies. This film is finely acted and yet again DDL shows he can turn up and put in a performance worthy of an Oscar, just as people are starting to forget who he is! and only The United States could be so comfortably at ease by putting a Brit in the role of one of their greatest citizens, could we here in Britain be so comfortable with someone American playing Churchill? The debate in the House of Reps might be a bit drawn out and long for some even for me, who could happily drown in American History. I could understand how some could get bored by it! Sally Field playing his increasingly troubled wife is fine but a bit over-dramatic at times but the dialogue between the two over their dead son and Lincoln's opening up of his pain, and his wife's obvious descent into depression over it is a terribly beautiful scene. The ending seems rushed. Not a word about what happened to Seward who became his loyal and doting Sec. Of state at the same time or the aborted attempt on the life of the VP Johnson. I personally have issue with Stanton's remarks of "now he belongs to the ages" as I believe this is pure Hollywood spin and what he really said was Now he belongs to the ANGELS" but this is something that has divided debate for over 150 years! This is a beautiful film pure and simple about a kind man who altered World history. If you into action avoid it, if you appreciate history and love the magic of a brilliantly acted film, see it.