Left in the wake of a particularly spiteful presidential
election, American may a feel somewhat fatigued by the months and months of
bickering and political backbiting. Directed by the world famous Steven
Spielberg, “Lincoln” documents another era when America was polarized among
specific issues regarding civil rights. With these current issues in mind and
released in the end of November, clearly Spielberg aims for Academy consideration.
However, though it would be easy to dismiss this movie as Oscar bait, “Lincoln”
has enough flare and ingenuity to sustain a life outside of the awards
season.
Daniel
Day-Lewis disappears in another performance as the titular character. You
forget about him as an actor in the part, and more significantly, you forget
about all of the other outstanding and outrageous performances he has played in
the past. But surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln as a character is not the focus of
the movie. Many other characters are
lingered on and analyzed throughout the film and Lewis’s portrayal as Lincoln
remains a humble island of calm admits an ocean of animosity and political
anxiety around him.
Wisely
the screenplay by Tony Kushner--who had previously worked with Spielberg before
on “Munich”—narrows the scope of this story within a few weeks in the life of
Abraham Lincoln as he is trying to pass the 13th amendment, which
would ban all slavery and involuntary servitude. Though he has already given
the emancipation proclamation and the Civil War is coming to a close, he must
ensure a constitutional end of slavery, not only for moral reasons, but also to
ensure that a similar war on this issue can’t be resurrected later. From there
the movie follows Lincoln and many other politicians as they try and persuade
the other members of the senate to vote for their cause.
As I
have stated before, this is a true ensemble cast and one of the most eclectic I
have seen all year. This film brings in
all strata of fame and popularity; from veteran Hollywood stars like Daniel
Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee-Jones, to underappreciated character-actors like Jackie
Earle Haley and Micheal Stuhlbarg, as well as interesting up-and-coming guys
like Joseph Cross and Dane Dehaan. Some are playing against type and some are
simply serving the purpose of the story, but the cast is chosen well and there
truly isn’t a weak link in the entire thing. That, in and of itself, is
astonishing. Tommy Lee-Jones in particular steals every scene he’s in and he
and Lewis should both receive well-deserved nominations.
Though
Spielberg brings the quality and craft you expect from him, his authorial
presence seems sheathed, in order to facilitate what is more of a screenwriter’s
showcase. Much, if not all of the screen time consists of lengthy scenes of funny
dressed people talking in rooms. This is both the best and worst thing about
the movie. It’s not a short film and because of the sheer density of the antiquated
dialogue—as well as it is delivered—the movie sometimes strains from a lack of
cinematic diversity. Though I could
appreciate everything that was happening, I often felt as though I was watching
a really great play that was turned into a pretty good movie.
“Lincoln”
is a sophisticated political procedural and it asks the audience to sit up
straight and pay attention, for that I fully commend it. Though I don’t know if we can call this movie
a classic, it’s full of great moments, stunning performance and graceful
direction, even if at times it feels like a really expensive and really talky
History Channel reenactment.
Grade: B
Originally published by the Idaho State Journal/Nov-2012
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