Lincoln
A giant slice of American history is dished up as Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis), the nation’s 16th president, is challenged with several battles. While the civil war rages on, Lincoln is also met with resistance inside his own cabinet regarding the Emancipation Proclimation; meanwhile, challenges on the home front have their own strains on his relationship with wife Mary (Sally Field) and his children.
Leading up to his fateful night at Ford’s theatre and slightly beyond Director Steven Spielberg works cinema magic to re-create/re-tell history in a polished but accurate and very digestible manner. In many regards there are the typical Spielbergian tools employed which include impressive cinematography, acute art direction, a John Williams score and an overall big budget feel– all well and good. However, victim of his own storytelling style, Spielberg’s use of children to cover and tell a story ends up shorting the audience on what is expected and anticipated to be a huge moment– Lincoln’s assassination. Naturally, language and dialogue have been modified to semi-modern english to make things easier to follow, if you’re looking for grammar and language as it was in 1860 you’ll have to fish on. But these are small quibbles truly, especially considering the Oscar nodding performance from Day-Lewis, and the rest of the star studded cast’s delivery. This is an epic work, worthy of your attention. Lincoln is rated PG-13.