Lincoln Review

Lincoln is one of the best films of 2012, and it also is one of the most important.

Director Steven Spielberg has long had a passion for Lincoln the man, infusing references or quotes from the 16^th President into several of his previous films. The “Letter from Mrs. Bixby” scene from Saving Private Ryan, in particular, is one of my favorites.

With Lincoln, Spielberg finally has the opportunity to tell a story from the amazing life of one of the most unique figures in American history. Lincoln’s life was spectacular and filled with many interesting moments spanning from his youth in Illinois all the way to his assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth in 1865. Spielberg had a lot of dramatic material from which to craft an interesting story. Wisely, he keeps the focus narrow to only one brief period of history, which keeps the narrative tight and tidy. This isn’t a broad sweeping epic the likes of The Iron Lady. It’s a much more intimate affair that showcases the life and personality of a great man during an important moment in time.

The story Spielberg chooses for his biopic focuses on the last four months of Lincoln’s life. A lot of things were going on at that time – the Civil War was in its fourth year, Lincoln had just been re-elected to a second term, and there was immense pressure on the man to end the conflict that had cost hundreds of thousands of lives and destroyed much of the nation’s infrastructure. However, chief among Lincoln’s concerns was passage of the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, an act that officially abolished slavery. As you might imagine, that wasn’t the most popular move back in 1864/65.

Lincoln is an extremely political film. Most of the film is spent in chambers with politicians debating ideology rather than out on the battlefield with soldiers firing guns. There is a little bit of civil war battle, which was a brutal and bloody affair, but these moments are not the point of the film. If you want to know about the battles of the Civil War, check out Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War. Lincoln is mostly a talky film, but that’s not to say that it’s without drama. It plays like a really good episode of The West Wing; only it’s set in the 1860s with actors sporting awesome muttonchops. I wouldn’t be surprised if Aaron Sorkin took a pass at the script at some point in development. Crisp dialog and quick wits define the screenplay. The story is gripping and compelling, and the characters are superbly created and acted.

The cast of Lincoln is amazing. Leading the pack are stellar performances from Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln, Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, and Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, a Congressman who fought hard for racial equality.

Day-Lewis gives a mesmerizing performance, one of many fine roles in his Academy Award-winning career. If not for Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in The Master, it would be another walk-away win for Day-Lewis come awards season (I think Phoenix gets a bunch of hardware this year). Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Lincoln is spectacular. The way he moves, the way he talks, his mannerisms, the way he displays a quick wit and humorous but serious nature all serve to draw the audience in to the experience. It’s hard to imagine the real Lincoln as any different than the way Day-Lewis portrays him. It’s as if Day-Lewis traveled back in time and lived the events of the film alongside the real Lincoln. Day-Lewis is known as a serious method actor. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has a small role as one of Lincoln’s sons, said during an interview that he had not heard Day-Lewis’ real voice or seen his real walk until after filming concluded. He stayed in character the whole time they were shooting. The cast and crew referred to him on set as “Mr. President”. It is, in part, this extreme level of dedication to craft that sets Day-Lewis apart from other actors. He quite literally became Lincoln, and his attention to detail elevates his performance to stellar heights. Superb.

Sally Field also puts in a great performance as the mentally strained wife of the President. She is a tortured soul, struggling with the many hardships that her life has thrust upon her. The loss of her young son, an older son who wants to join the war, watching her husband manage the war and try to pass important legislation. All these things and more weigh heavily on Mary Todd Lincoln; she feels the pressure more than anyone else in the household. Field does a great job of showing the anguish of a woman/wife/mother facing so many traumas.

Lincoln will be ranked by many critics as one of the best films of 2012 on the basis of great acting and great story. It will definitely make my Top 10 of 2012 list. However, Lincoln isn’t simply a good movie. I also think it is one of the most important major studio films to come out I quite some time.

It is a film that reminds us how far we have progressed as a society in the last 150 years. In the 1860s slavery was a legal and relatively common practice. Minorities were not allowed to vote. Neither were women. Equality was an ideal that few thought was attainable.

Social equality – the concept that all citizens, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or perceived handicap, should have a voice to advance society to a more enlightened state – is an area in which society has made great strides since the time of Lincoln. Many of the barriers that were in place back then have been removed. In today’s society there is more equality in society than there has ever been.

Is there more to be done? Sure. In many cases, women still aren’t paid on equal terms as men. Minorities still struggle to find opportunities to succeed. There are a host of issues to be addressed before we achieve true equality across all levels of society. But these are relatively minor steps to take. The major barriers have been cast aside; now we must fine-tune the formula.

I have hope for greater equality in the future.

Today, we have amazing opportunities to achieve a balance in society that couldn’t have been dreamed of in Lincoln’s time. The connectivity among people today is unprecedented in all of human history, and I feel that this will do more good to achieve universal equality than anything. Once we realize that every person on Earth is fundamentally the same with similar dreams, desires, aspirations, inspirations, needs, joys, and sorrows, then it becomes easy to think of our world as a community of individuals. With social media outlets, the thoughts of someone living in Belize, Israel, India, Japan, Kenya, and every other point on the globe become instantly accessible to everyone else on the planet. News and information from all over the globe is only as far away as a smartphone or computer. We can now see in real time exactly how human every other person on Earth truly is. Once we recognize the humanity of every individual on Earth, how can we justify oppressing his or her rights?

This is the amazing feat of Lincoln. It makes the audience think about things that are broader in scope than just a two-hour, fifteen-minute movie. In addition to being incredibly entertaining, it has a depth that transcends film. Lincoln illustrates for us that a few brave and determined souls can affect great change in society, even when there are large portions of society who are content to limit the rights of others. Lincoln shows that the path to true social equality will be difficult but that those efforts are worthwhile.

It's an amazing film.

5 out of 5