Review of Lincoln (2012) by Allen G — 05 Apr 2016

Led by strong performances from all of its cast, Lincoln is a punchy historical drama that lives up to the expectations that come from a Spielberg-directed piece.

It's well-told and just managed to avoid feeling overly-dragged out and long (though it maybe isn't perfect in this regard), but it's really the cast who bring it all home. Tommy Lee Jones did a great job here, which I think has been overlooked, mostly just because of how great everyone else was too.

The stakes are high enough in this one for it to really succeed as a political drama and the film's aesthetic and general feel very much fit with my expectations of the time period, thus making this work as a period-piece too.

My only real issue with this film is its portrayal of Lincoln- Daniel Day Lewis gives a brilliant performance, of course, but the character itself is put forward as such a great hero and, a savior even, that the film starts to feel like it's propagandising as it tells its story. Sure, the film is about Lincoln but it's every bit as much about the abolition of slavery and there were so many others involved in that, many of whom, are completely left out of the story here. Sure, those tales deserve their own films, as Lincoln deserved his, but, as it stands, there's something not quite genuine enough about this film and its drawn-out speeches. I think there was an opportunity for something a little more complex here which could have taken this from simply good to being great.

Still, this one likely has what you're looking for, especially if you're curious about Daniel Day Lewis' performance and want to see how it holds up against all of the hype.