Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, and Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by: Tony Kushner
Based in part on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
If you want to see a prime example of gridlock in Washington, this is the film for you.
The film takes place during the month of January 1865. The Civil War has raged on for four years and has taken hundreds of thousands of lives on both the side of the United States and the Confederacy. This is not a film based on the life of Abraham Lincoln, but instead the passage of the 13th amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that ended slavery in the United States, and the end of the Civil War. If you know your history, you should already know how the film ends.
Let me begin by talking about the acting. Daniel Day-Lewis never delivers a bad performance. In every film I have seen him in, he delivers a performance that is nothing short of truly unbelievable. He never fails to impress us with his talents as an actor, and Lincoln is no different. He delivers my favorite performance by an actor in a leading role of all 2012. I expect there will at least be a Best Actor nomination if not a win. I have always learned about Abraham Lincoln in a fashion that makes him almost god-like, and Daniel Day-Lewis makes Abraham Lincoln seem actually human, not someone we can necessarily relate to simply because most of us won't ever be the President of the United States.
Another incredibly strong performance in this film is by Tommy Lee Jones as representative Thaddeus Stevens. It's hard to decide who gives a stronger performance in this film, Daniel Day-Lewis or Tommy Lee Jones. I hope there will be a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Tommy Lee Jones.
This is not a film for those who cannot sit through slow paced films. The film runs about two and a half hours long, but feels like quite a bit longer than that. It has the potential to lose your attention for a moment a few times, and it's almost impossible not to get lost at some point. There's a lot to ponder during the film, but since it moves slowly, you probably won't miss too much. And this is my only complaint about the film.
Lincoln is a true hit for Spielberg, who often makes some truly amazing films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. (1982). I don't think Lincoln will every be considered a classic among those two films, and I don't think it's Spielberg's best film ever, but Lincoln is truly a masterpiece. Spielberg creates a tribute not to Abraham Lincoln's life, but to the massive struggle he faced in passing the 13th amendment among some of the darkest days in American history, a battle that defined America forever after.
My top 5 films of the year list has once again been rearranged. Lincoln is my new #1 film of the year, defeating Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. I give this film an A+.
My top 5 as of 11/25/2012
#5: Argo
#4: The Avengers
#3: Cloud Atlas
#2: The Dark Knight Rises
#1: Lincoln
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by: Tony Kushner
Based in part on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
If you want to see a prime example of gridlock in Washington, this is the film for you.
The film takes place during the month of January 1865. The Civil War has raged on for four years and has taken hundreds of thousands of lives on both the side of the United States and the Confederacy. This is not a film based on the life of Abraham Lincoln, but instead the passage of the 13th amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that ended slavery in the United States, and the end of the Civil War. If you know your history, you should already know how the film ends.
Let me begin by talking about the acting. Daniel Day-Lewis never delivers a bad performance. In every film I have seen him in, he delivers a performance that is nothing short of truly unbelievable. He never fails to impress us with his talents as an actor, and Lincoln is no different. He delivers my favorite performance by an actor in a leading role of all 2012. I expect there will at least be a Best Actor nomination if not a win. I have always learned about Abraham Lincoln in a fashion that makes him almost god-like, and Daniel Day-Lewis makes Abraham Lincoln seem actually human, not someone we can necessarily relate to simply because most of us won't ever be the President of the United States.
Another incredibly strong performance in this film is by Tommy Lee Jones as representative Thaddeus Stevens. It's hard to decide who gives a stronger performance in this film, Daniel Day-Lewis or Tommy Lee Jones. I hope there will be a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Tommy Lee Jones.
This is not a film for those who cannot sit through slow paced films. The film runs about two and a half hours long, but feels like quite a bit longer than that. It has the potential to lose your attention for a moment a few times, and it's almost impossible not to get lost at some point. There's a lot to ponder during the film, but since it moves slowly, you probably won't miss too much. And this is my only complaint about the film.
Lincoln is a true hit for Spielberg, who often makes some truly amazing films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. (1982). I don't think Lincoln will every be considered a classic among those two films, and I don't think it's Spielberg's best film ever, but Lincoln is truly a masterpiece. Spielberg creates a tribute not to Abraham Lincoln's life, but to the massive struggle he faced in passing the 13th amendment among some of the darkest days in American history, a battle that defined America forever after.
My top 5 films of the year list has once again been rearranged. Lincoln is my new #1 film of the year, defeating Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. I give this film an A+.
My top 5 as of 11/25/2012
#5: Argo
#4: The Avengers
#3: Cloud Atlas
#2: The Dark Knight Rises
#1: Lincoln
Comments
Post a Comment