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Lincoln: If you keep seeing Daniel Day-Lewis popping up on news items for winning another award, then you’ll probably have heard of his latest film role – playing America’s most venerated President in Steven Spielberg’s epic movie.
Although some reviews have criticized this film for being a bit of a drawn-out viewing experience, it is worth checking out your local cinema listings to see the film for yourself and cast your own opinion.
What it does achieve is that it really puts you in the moment. The dark and gloomy atmosphere of the White House at the time, the depressing carnage caused by the bloody civil war that had been raging for so long, the struggle of a President to do the right thing without regard for his popularity in the process.
If you’re not familiar with US civil war and history, you won’t necessarily feel like you’re missing out when you go to watch it. All you need to know is that the film centres on Lincoln’s supreme efforts to get the 13th amendment banning slavery passed before the Civil War comes to an end.
True, if you like your films action-packed and with a simple plot, then Lincoln may not be the first choice, but if you want to learn something while being entertained, then this is a film that ticks the box.
Few films put you in the moment in the way that Lincoln, portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis does. This talented actor does what he always does in a film – he truly seems to become his character, and we forget we are watching an actor as he postulates as history has told us that Lincoln did.
He speaks with a calm and considered tone, tells funny stories to lighten tense political discussion and shows his loving devotion to his wife – played by Sally Field – and his sons. He guards his grief about his son who died three years earlier, and puts his personal feelings aside in his role as President and to achieve what’s right for the common good.
If you’ve not seen Lincoln yet, then you can still find it on plenty of cinema London listings and it’s also still showing in regional cities across the UK. For example, a quick search on Glasgow cinema will bring up whether this film tipped to take home a raft of Oscars is still showing or not.
If you tend to steer away from historical epics at the cinema, this is one film where you should make an exception. It’s a thought provoking work that doesn’t disappoint.
Cert: 
Running time: 150 minutes
Year: 2012
Released: January 25th 2013
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
Rating: 10/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Tony Kushner (based in part on the book “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin)
Music: John Williams
Cast:
Abraham Lincoln: Daniel Day-Lewis
Mary Todd Lincoln: Sally Field
William Seward: David Strathairn
Robert Lincoln: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
W.N. Bilbo: James Spader
Preston Blair: Hal Holbrook
Thaddeus Stevens: Tommy Lee Jones
Robert Latham: John Hawkes
Alexander Stephens: Jackie Earle Haley
Edwin Stanton: Bruce McGill
Richard Schell: Tim Blake Nelson