Boring, tedious and pointless. Skip Day-Lewis and focus on Tommy Lee.

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2013)

Wow. Saw this film today, Cinema was empty. This, I expected. Being n the UK it was unlikely that this film would explode due to its 'Murican plot. When I say plot, however, I actually mean this;
"More democrats need to vote yes!", "Nearly at the vote!", "Freedom for black slaves!", "Nearly at the vote!", "Nearly at the vote!", "Nearly at the vote!", "Tommy Lee says something epic!", "Nearly at the vote!", "More democrats need to vote!", "Nearly at the vote!", "Freedom for blacks slaves!", "Tommy Lee says something epic!", "Nearly at the vote!", "More democrats need to vote!", "At the vote!"...
"The war is over, dead bodies, sadness.", "Lincoln's dead but we won't show you the assassination!"
That's it. That is the ENTIRE FILM. I have never, EVER, wanted to actually leave the cinema before. If it hadn't been so expensive and I hadn't respected Mr. Spielberg so much then I would have. I don't see why this film has so many Academy Award nominations. Sure, Day-Lewis was very, very good, but you may as well have not even included him!. Lincoln had ZERO character development; you get the same old story- telling old man until the last ten minutes, when he just becomes an old man. Tommy Lee, on the other hand, had TONNES of development. Being conflicted about whether or not he should be who he is expected to, pursuing a dream and watching it nearly fail before his very eyes, and critically being in a relationship with a black women which would have previously been shunned. The relief on his face as she reads the amendment is unforgettably intense. Day Lewis' performance was, however, forgettable and sometime quite pretentious IMO.
The cinematography was undoubtedly good. Nothing really special. It compliments the superb set and costume design brilliantly (the sets and costumes deserve a plethora of awards, definitely), but that isn't enough to save this film.
Steven Spielberg, you just keep getting weaker. It started with WOTW, and then War Horse, and now Lincoln, your demise. I hope you do take Robopocalypse up again, as sci-fi and action are your best genres.
So, overall; A boring film which I couldn't care less about. I wanted to leave, and only enjoyed the bits where Tommy Lee played out some truly hilarious and marvellously powerful lines. HE should have been the focus, not Lincoln. Tommy's character, with his 30 years of torment previously, were far more interesting than Lincoln's (the 30 years is only hinted at, not shown.) In a similar way to Prometheus, this film had its priorities totally wrong. Prometheus, however, didn't have me bored to tears. I give this film 2 ratings; 5/10 for the actual film, and 8.5/10 for Tommy Lee Jones' acting and the Set+Costume design. Overall, 6/10