Review of Lincoln (2012) by Spangle — 26 Aug 2014

Damn, what a cast. I love films like this that have these huge casts and I keep seeing all these character actors who I recognize from other films or television shows. Daniel Day-Lewis was great (though I prefer him in Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood, personally).

Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, and David Costabile, are also major bright spots. As a whole, this is an at times very interesting film about Lincoln himself, as well as everything he went through trying to get the 13th amendment passed.

The performances, direction, and costume design, are all major pluses to this historical film. However, it felt a little long. Some of it could have been trimmed and the final product would have benefited from it.

On top of that, Mary Todd Lincoln was almost exclusively portrayed as a total b****, while Robert Lincoln was almost exclusively shown as a wannabe soldier. Thus, I almost think Jospeh Gordon-Levitt's portion could be trimmed significantly, though his performance was fine.

I also wish they either showed more elements of Mary Lincoln or trimmed her down and focused exclusively on Lincoln, his Cabinet, and the House. The ending is also poor, as it does not even show anything.

While I am not a huge fan of gore, at least hearing a gunshot would have been an added plus. The way they did it felt as if they were purposely keeping us at a distance, which is annoying. The film can also be a little tedious at times and fails to hold your interest throughout the entire run time (largely thanks to the parts that add nothing much to the film as a whole).

However, as a whole, the film is very well made and very well done from all parties and stands as a great look at history and is poignant even today, as though the issues are different, the divide between parties and the way votes work is all too similar.