Review of Lincoln (2012) by Marius L — 19 Nov 2014
To me it's hard to really criticise this movie for anything. It has some qualities you almost never see. First off, a movie with a 150 minute run time consisting of this much dialogue is always extremely boring.
Except this one. This is one of those few gems that have you cherishing the long, slow monologues. A lot of things have to be exceptionally brilliant to make that work. The lead character has to be very interesting, which is no problem when we're talking about USAs 16th president.
The actor portraying him has to deliver a performance that belongs to the ages (see what I did there?), and Daniel Day-Lewis does just that. He has always been brilliant, but this is perhaps the best of the best.
The screenplay, especially the dialogue, needs to be razor sharp and original. Tony Kushner has delivered just that. And it all needs to be sewn together by a master of seamless movie arts. Now, Steven Spielberg is hands down one of the greatest directors of all time, but he is one of those directors who always leaves a trail bright as day of typical trademarks.
The thing is, in Lincoln they are non-existant. You couldn't guess this was a Spielberg movie by simply watching it. The ingenious thing Spielberg has done here is to really take a back seat. Nothing feels forced, nothing feels exaggerated and the movie as a whole has a feel of an almost Apple-like simplicity in it's composition, which is very untypical of the man behind Jaws, Indiana Jones, E.
T., Schindler's List and so many others. Lincoln just flows. Like the famous President once said: «I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.».
This review of Lincoln (2012) was written by Marius L on 19 Nov 2014.
Lincoln has generally received very positive reviews.
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