BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I doubt this review will be all that long. If you’ve gotten like three years into school you should already know about Abraham Lincoln. He’s one of the greatest Presidents in United States history and his story and legacy is embedded into our everyday life a century and a half later. Dude was awesome, obviously. I’m surprised there isn’t like ten Lincoln bio pics already from over the years. It just seems like a very obvious and logic film choice. In a way I’m glad they waited until now to do this. If not we may not have had Steven Spielberg behind the camera and Daniel Day-Lewis in front of it. That would have been really unfortunate because that’s the super powers that were assembled for this movie. Seriously folks, we have Daniel Day-Lewis, one of the best actors of all time playing one of the most loved and revered American icons of all time. On top of that we get Steven Speilberg directing this bitch. How insane is that? That’s almost like too much. Then we’re treated to an A-list “supporting cast” in the likes of Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, and like two dozen other talented and familiar faces from awesome movies, shows, and performances. There was not a weak link amongst the entire cast. I seriously can’t think of one performer in this movie that stood out as being out of place or out of the general tone. It was very well done and felt enriched with epicness. Daniel Day-Lewis should win the Oscar for best actor ever. He was outstanding in this role and like most of his work he loses himself. It’s weird to think that a movie about the 13th Amendment could be so enthralling. It’s a great moment and should be documented in all its glory, but the movie basically came down to politicians making up their mind if they’re in or not for the amendment. We already know it happens so the building suspense doesn’t quite jab at the audience all the much. It more-so celebrates the moment and the man behind it without really giving us too much of a story. I would have liked more backstory on Lincoln and less overly dramatic “is he going to say “yay” or “nay”?!?” Would the visual of the man giving the Gettysberg address have been so hard? I know the filmmaker went with the choice of being more casual about it, but Daniel Day-Lewis giving that speech could have been one of the best moments in film history. My nit-picks aside, I did enjoy this movie. All two and half hours of it. It was enthralling, very well done, and one of the best movies of 2012. This movie should be a viewing requirement for any American, film or acting fanatic, or anyone who wants to see Daniel Day-Lewis make us forget what our 16th President looks like. A-
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