Lincoln

Lincoln, Steven Spielberg's latest opus is a fascinating movie if you care to learn about how the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. If you don't know what the 13th Amendment is, it's the abolishment of slavery. If you don't really care that much then you might find it boring but Spielberg never makes, okay rarely makes a bad film and Lincoln isn't at all a bad film. That's why it gets three buckets of Killer Korn.



If Abraham Lincoln was anything like Daniel Day-Lweis' portrayal of him, I would have loved to have met him. I have never wanted to meet any president, never cared to meet the figure head of the Republic, the leader of the free world. Just wasn't my thing but that being said, if Lincoln was as graceful, even handed, gracious, magnanimous, and intelligent as he was in this movie, then his hand would have been one I would have liked to shake. I don't know if this will win Day-Lewis another Oscar but I do know it will win him a brand new legion of fans for he is fantastic as the 16th President. Sally Field's portrayal as Lincoln's tortured wife Molly Lincoln was every bit as good as Day-Lewis'. All of the performances were stellar and to me stand out was James Spader.

Yes you read that right, James Spader. He has finally found a roll that he fits into perfectly as W.N. Bilbo, a political operative who was hired by Lincoln and his Secretary of State William Seward played by David Strathairn to get in anyway he and his cohorts could, votes by key Democrats to vote for the 13th Amendment. I have rarely been impressed by anything Spader has done throughout his career, I was impressed by him in Lincoln. This movie also starred Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (what a year this kid is having), Jared Harris (Prof. Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes; Game of Shadows), and Gloria Reuben are just a few of the outstanding actors in this extensive cast. And I'm quite certain whoever Spielberg wanted, he didn't get a "no".

This movie, amazingly is startlingly timed. It coincides almost poignantly with the re-election of the 44th President Barack Obama. It shows just how far we as a people and a nation has come. This movie, like I have indicated is light on Civil War action and very heavy on trying to get the Constitution amended trying to kill slavery. When you walk out of the theater, you live in a world where the President is a Black man. That realization is powerful to me and that's a testament to Spielberg, for creating and crafting a movie that seemingly transports you back in time to that moment when back alley deals are made, backs are stabbed, the votes are counted, and slavery is killed in this country.

Inspired by the book by Dolores Kearns Goodwin entitled Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Spielberg's movie puts you inside the offices and almost inside the heads and the hearts of the Republicans that wanted to abolish slavery and the Democrats that looked to keep it going. The only complaint I have it the ending, I think Speilberg overdid it on the ending and went for the grandiose instead of the more emotional. Outside of that, the sets, the costumes, the makeup were all seemingly perfect. The score, composed by the masterful maestro himself, John Williams was uplifting, poignant, humorous, and solemn when it needed to be. It's a great score to a great movie and one I definitely recommend. It is well worth the price of admission so see it, and I'll see you at the theater.