Lincoln

Following up War Horse was another historical drama for Steven Spielberg, this time a biopic of Abraham Lincoln. Exhaustively researched and cleverly focused, he created a film that breathed new life into that chapter of history unlike any I have seen before.

Abraham Lincoln (played by Daniel Day Lewis) has just begun his second term as President as the Civil War continues to rage on. He had decided now is the time to get the Thirteenth Amendment through the House of Representatives and hopefully bring about the end of slavery and with it an end that bloody war once and for all. Secretary of State William Seward (played by David Strathairn) recruits lobbyists William Bilbo (played by James Spader), Richard Schell (played by Tim Blake Nelson) and Colonel Robert Latham (played by John Hawkes) to help secure the votes needed to get the amendment to pass the House (it had already passed the Senate by this point). Lincoln is also helped by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (played by Tommy Lee Jones), fervent abolitionist.  He also has his own family issues to contend with, his wife Mary (played by Sally Field) is fretting over their son Robert (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt) and his desire to join the Union army. The death of their son Willie still fresh in her mind and she can't bear the thought of losing another son. Meanwhile, youngest son Tad (played by Gulliver McGrath) runs around the White House, treating the entire place as his personal playground. 

Steven Spielberg had wanted to make a film about Abraham Lincoln for a long time but struggled with finding the right approach. Writer Tony Kushner, who had collaborated with Spielberg on Munich, took up the scripting duties for Lincoln and began exhaustively researching the man and his life. The resulting screenplay was a 550 page behemoth of a script and as Spielberg read it, he found the most compelling section was the 70 page section on the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment. They then decided to focus the film on the last four months of Lincoln's life and his determination to pass the amendment and end the Civil War. By doing so, they create a surprisingly intimate look at Lincoln and how the war has worn him down in so many ways but he keeps pushing forward regardless. The film at the same time delves into what it took to get the amendment passed and secure the votes to do so. On the production side of things, the film's look is fantastic, captured once again by Janusz Kaminski. Rick Carter does an incredible job with the production design, recreating the White House of the era with such detail and making everything feel authentic.

The acting in the film is top notch all around. Daniel Day Lewis is nothing short of incredible as Abraham Lincoln. He is so utterly convincing in the role and just completely disappears into it. He brought Lincoln to life in a way that I had not expected. Any sense of the "legendary" Lincoln, the one immortalized on the monument, is not there. He feels tangibly real and relatable. His sleepless nights wandering the halls of the White House, sitting up with the White House wireless operators waiting to hear news reports of the war. His Secretary, Major John Hay (played by Joseph Cross), waking up at night to find Lincoln at the foot of his bed going over pardon requests. After a meeting, him getting down on his knees to fix the fire in the fireplace himself. Those are just some of the wonderful examples of how they managed to capture the real Lincoln and give us a intimate look that I hadn't seen before. And everyone else brings their A game to the film as well. Tommy Lee Jones is exquisite as Thaddeus Stevens and is clearly enjoying the role, gnashing the wonderful Tony Kushner dialogue with glee. Sally Field is wonderful as Mary Todd Lincoln and has some fantastic moments with Day Lewis. I also have to single out James Spader as William Bilbo, who provides a bit of comic relief to the film as one of the lobbyists trying to secure the votes. Bilbo is a colorful character and Spader is clearly having a lot of fun with the role. Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. This film is filled with fantastic actors and they're all doing a great job.     

Lincoln is without a doubt one of Spielberg's best films. Riveting and fantastically acted, with a dash of humor in all the right places. The one little nitpick I'd have with the film is that Spielberg doesn't end the film where he should have and if you've seen the film you'll understand what I mean. There's a perfect spot to end it and instead the film keeps going for another ten minutes. But other than that, the film is perfection and a fantastic look at an important chapter of our nation's history. If you're curious, the film is currently available on Netflix for viewing.