Review of Killing Lincoln (2013) by Geoffrey O — 13 Oct 2013
It was alright, but nothing memorable. The costumes and cinematography are unquestionably good, and Jesse Johnson is amazing as John Wilkes Booth. However, the film clearly couldn't decide if it wanted to be a documentary or drama.
The "docudrama" thing doesn't work if the audience is keeping up with the story. Aside from Johnson, and maybe Billy Campbell as well, the rest of the cast wasn't terribly memorable, and I felt Geraldine Hughes' Mary Todd Lincoln was grossly over-acted.
The film had too much of Spielberg's "Lincoln" on it's shoulders (although I actually felt it's plot was far more interesting), and I thought it was trying to hard to live up to it.
Only with d-list actors/director and Tom Hanks narrating. So much more could have been done with a movie about Lincoln's murder. It's okay, and it's worth a watch at least, but I feel an opportunity was wasted.
This review of Killing Lincoln (2013) was written by Geoffrey O on 13 Oct 2013.
Killing Lincoln has generally received positive reviews.
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