Lincolon 2012

     This film is about the final months of the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.  He served as President from his election on 11/6/1860 until his death 4/15/1869, the civil war was from 4/11/1861 until 4/8/1865.  The Civil War is ongoing during this time but winding down and the 13th amendment to the constitution concerning slavery is coming up for voting.  Lincoln fears that if the war ends before the voting, the amendment will not pass into law.  He is torn because the sooner peace arrives, the less lives will be lost in this terrible war.  End slavery or end the war?

     Excellent performances by Day-Lewis, Field and Jones but you may need to be a history buff to love this movie?  The costumes and stage designs are wonderful.  The drawbacks of this film are the narrowness of scope, too much arguing between the politicians, wordy and uninvolving scenes in the script which are sometimes tedious, overlong length and the ending is already known.   The amendment was passed in January 1865, sent to the states for ratification and approved on 12/6/1865.

150 min, Drama directed by Steven Spielberg with Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jared Harris, David Strathairn, Jeremy Strong, Jackie Earle Haley.  3* (This movie is OK)

Note:  Blockbuster 4*,  imdb 7.6 out of 10, 89% critic 84% audience on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Special Note:  Maybe my expectations were set too high because of the reviews and awards?