An Excellent Film

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2012)

Lincoln delivers. I could end my review right there, Lincoln delivers. So many things have already been written about this movie but I wanted to share some of my thoughts with the world.
Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing, flawless in fact. I've never seen him in a movie that he wasn't flawless in. I'm not sure I can say it any more clearly than that. DDL has made a career of playing strong characters (There Will be Blood) that dominate the screen. But in Lincoln he "cracks the throttle" and plays Lincoln with superb subtlety. President Lincoln is already larger than life, so there's no reason to take the character too far. Instead Daniel Day-Lewis presents a very Presidential Lincoln who is in ultimate control, even if those around him don't know it. If we didn't know President Lincoln was a real person then you would think that this movie was about some kind of impossible superhuman, that's how good DDL is.
The rest of the cast is solid, no complaints about Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, or Joesph Gordon Levitt. They all pale in comparison to Daniel Day-Lewis, but that's the point. Sally Field has the thankless role of playing Mary Todd Lincoln, a person that makes Sybil look like a well adjusted woman.
Holding this movie back is it's length (2 1/2 hours) and its pacing. To say it straight: this movie is slow. If you're into history/politics/phenomenal acting then you should check this movie out ASAP. But if you're expecting this movie to be anything other than a slow burn you'll be disappointing. Again, if you like There Will be Blood, then you'll probably really like this movie.
The only other thing I have complaints about were the ending and it's overly cheesy handling of Lincoln's death (seriously, IMDb better not claim that's a spoiler, I didn't check the spoiler box). I felt that it should have been done differently, we all know how it ends and it could have been done in a more powerful way.
Those two "complaints" aside, go see this movie immediately if you've ever liked anything that Daniel Day-Lewis has done. Go see it even if you haven't because he does justice to President Lincoln that no one else could ever do.