Review of The Conspirator (2011) by Dawn K — 09 Nov 2013

Fairly consistently correct movie about the trial[s] of those that conspired to assassinate President Lincoln, focusing mainly on the trial of Mary Surratt and the lawyer that is forced to defend her.

Even though I believe [from books I have read on this subject] that Mary Surratt knew more than she ever let on [I think she knew where her son was and always believed he would come home and rescue her AND I believe she knew he was involved in something serious with JWB] and more than they could prove [the trial[s], especially her's were nothing short of a witch-hunt*], I do not think that she was as involved as they said she was, nor do I think she should have hung for her alleged crimes. This movie is a very interesting play on what happened and goes along well with the movie Lincoln [watch that first] and the book "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer".

* And I believe that Stanton was the leader of the witch-hunt to try and "appease" the people who would have probably shown more mercy without the craziness that Stanton continually stirred up. He was a man of war and could not, even in the end, with the truth in front of him, show ANY compassion at all. Very sad.

ALL that said, I think that the others that were involved got what they deserved in the end. What they DID NOT get was a fair and just trial. And that is my biggest problem with the outcome of those trials at that time.