No sense in waiting until February 24, might as well give Daniel Day Lewis the Best Actor Oscar now. He was that good as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's epic, "Lincoln". I enjoy playing casting director after watching a movie, trying to identify actors who I thought might have been a better fit for a particular role, but I honestly couldn't think of anyone who could have done a better as job as Lincoln than Lewis. Liam Neeson, who had originally been cast in the role before backing out, could have given Lewis a run for his money. But Lewis was nearly flawless. Although, to my knowledge, there is no known video of Abraham Lincoln, Lewis' lumbering, deliberate, soft spoken portrayal of Lincoln appears to be accurate from what historical data there is, and how we've grown to perceive him.
The movie itself, all 2 1/2 hours of it, is a history lesson that focuses on the first four months of 1865, during which time an intense struggle is occuring, both publicly and privately, on whether or not to pass the 13the constitutional amendment to abolish slavery. In what is something reminiscent of the liberal vs conservative battles going on today in the United States political scene, the fight of the amendment featured the "anti-amendment" Democrats vs. "pro-amendment" Republicans.
In early January, 1865, just days before being sworn in for his 2nd term as President, Lincoln announces to his cabinet that he wants the House of Representatives to pass the amendment by the last day of January....a mere three weeks away. The 13th amendment had passed the Republican majority Senate the prior year, but was facing severe opposition in the Democratic majority House. Twenty votes short of what is needed to pass, Secretary of State William Henry Seward (played nicely by one of my favorite character actors, David Straitharn), hatches a plot to win over a number of specifically identified lame duck Democratic House members using a trio of "operatives". Not sure how historically accurate it is, but how these Democrats are specifically identified is a particularly interesting part of the movie.
While this covert plot is underway, Lincoln has another possible stumbling block to deal with.....the Civil War. Hoping to use the 13th amendment as leverage to end the Civil War, efforts to end the war begin to intensify two weeks prior to the end of January, which puts Lincoln in a quandary: if the war ends prior to the House vote, the amendment would all but fail. But if he let's the war continue, thousands of lives could be lost in battle (including that of his recently enlisted son, Robert). In the interest of not giving away any more of the plot, I'll stop there. But it is a conflict that Lincoln intensely struggles with. Thanks to great acting by Lewis, you can really sense the conflict Lincoln must have gone through, and the battle he must have had with his conscience.
After the Civil War/13th Amendment issue is resolved, the movie ends following Lincoln's assassination on April 15, 1865, just six days after the South surrendered, all but ending the Civil War. The ending provided a nice, moving tribute to Lincoln, but I would have actually ended the movie a few minutes earlier. Just prior to leaving for his ill-fated trip to the theater, Lincoln is shown meeting with his cabinet in the White House, during which time his aide walks in and reminds the President that the first lady is waiting for him outside in their "Presidential" carriage. The aide doesn't say to where, but we find out soon enough. Lincoln is then shown, from behind and in slow motion, walking out of the White House. Powerfully shot by Spielberg, it obvious it was the last time Lincoln would set foot in his presidential home. As a result, and because that scene was so powerful, I would have ended the movie there, then flash some text on the screen explaining that Lincoln was assassinated later that night at Ford Theater, etc. I think it would have been a more moving, impactful ending. But that's just me!
OK, now for more knit-picking. Although the sets and locations used in the movie for the most part did make me feel I was in the mid 1800's, the actors did not. To me, most of them looked like 21st century actors dressed up like 19th century Americans. They didn't come off as authentic to me, and I'm not really sure why. Maybe filming it in black-and-white would have helped. I don't know. And I'm still trying to figure out how W.N.. Bilbo (hilariously played by a plump James Spader) and his two fellow operatives were able to run right into the White House and directly into a conference room where President Lincoln was working without confronting a single soul! Security was weak that day, evidently. All minor stuff.
In conclusion, I do have to play casting director once more. Tommy Lee Jones was satisfactory but not spectacular playing Representative Thaddeus Stevens (although, based on actual historical photos, he did look a heck of a lot like him), and as a result I would have loved to have seen Al Pacino in that role. Jones had a couple of courthouse scenes where he verbally duked it out with Democratic opponents. Jones was good, but those scenes had "Pacino" written all over them!
Using my rating system (1= skip it, 2= rent it, 3= worth a matinee, 4= worth
full price), "Lincoln" is a solid a "4".
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