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“Lincoln,” filmed by Steven Spielberg, portrays a monumental time in the history of America by animating Abraham Lincoln’s struggle to pass the 13th Amendment.
The viewer gets a first-hand inside perspective into the political maneuvering and some personal struggles with family that the president had.
The film was inspired by Doris Kearns Goodwin’s biography “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.”
Daniel Day-Lewis stars as President Lincoln, delivering an award winning performance. Sally Field plays first lady Mary Todd Lincoln alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Lincolns’ eldest son.
The family behind the White House doors has a good balance of acting talent that contributes a dramatic pull.
Tommy Lee Jones plays the sarcastically outspoken Republican leader Thaddeus Stephens who retains the sanity during scenes of meetings at the outrageous House of Representatives.
Day-Lewis delivers inspiring, eloquent speeches, a few told in the form of stories of personal experience belonging to the beloved president himself.
This film shows Lincoln was a president who pushed and pulled with what power he had while he had it. First it was the emancipation of slaves ordered by Lincoln to try to unite the Union in 1863 that lays the foundation of the film.
Two years later is when the struggle takes place on what it really took for a man with an ambition to abolish slavery through the 13th Amendment in January 1865.
The first scene of the film is a brutally graphic war scenario with bayonets being rammed into soldiers’ chests and dismembered limbs lying on the field of battle.
The following scene of Lincoln speaking to two black soldiers about post-war rights for people of color together makes a clever foreshadowing of the entire film.
Battle scenes and political banter over equal rights for all men fill the screen from start to finish. The audience is left with a proud feeling of knowing how equal rights were established in America at the end of the film.
The film had moments of long speech that were well-orchestrated, so the dull moments of long speech were close to none.
A detailed wardrobe accompanied by low lighting give the film a great antique appearance. The overall selection of costumes, wigs, makeup and hairstyles bring out the historical importance of the movie’s core.
A great supporting cast and old-time speech make the film worth the time spent watching.
I would recommend it to anyone, especially to those who have a soft spot for history.
