Review of Lincoln (2012) by Dudefromtulsa — 25 Dec 2012

If you are a southern apologist who lives in the delusion they were fighting for anything other than slavery, you will hate this film. It puts the historical cards on the table and shows the south's refusal to give up on a war that was already lost because they would not agree to end slavery.

Plain and simple, they were fighting for that reason and no other. If you prefer anachronistic dialogue, with persons from history sounding like NYC cab drivers, you will hate this film. Kushner's script follows the best recollections of those who were present.

With the forgivable exception of allowing the change of "Now he belongs to the angels." to become the far better "Now he belongs to the ages." If you want to see CGI recreations of Gettysburg and Antietam, you're in the wrong theater.

This film is about Lincoln and his growing conviction that the war was never just about preserving the union. That his fate was to be the man who led this country to the end of slavery. Seen for what it is, that often the hand of God moves history with the least likely vessels, a prophet with a speech impediment, a carpenter's son born in poverty or that a man who had failed at nearly everything, whose family life was coming unhinged, should lead a reluctant, spiteful nation to end the babrbarism of slavery, this film is a triumph.