The original oral histories, as John Y. Simon and Douglas L. Wilson have argued convincingly, contain a strong consensus that Lincoln was distraught over Ann Rutledge's death and even talked suicide. That was the time the community said he was crazy. I don't know. Only one man could ever have known, and I imagine that even Lincoln had no easy answer to the question. Grubin's film flattens ambiguity, in this case, in the service of a story.
Time is short, and drama is necessary.
And so, when known texts are inconvenient, they are tweaked. These choices will help the film reach a wide audience, which it deserves. It is a gorgeous film, expertly done. Myths must fit the needs of their time. And our crucial need today is to lay bare the ugly truths of the past, especially with regard to the human beings brought to this continent in chains.