How entertaining? ★★★★☆
Thought provoking? ★★★☆☆ 24 January 2013
This article is a review of LINCOLN.
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“I am the president of the United States of America, clothed in immense power! You will procure me those votes!” Abraham Lincoln
Too many biopics make the mistake of covering an entire life in one movie. Even with a runtime of 150 minutes that is a tall order. The wisest filmmakers chose to examine a part, from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and KUNDUN to I’M NOT THERE and THE SOCIAL NETWORK. It seems that LINCOLN is a passion project for Steven Spielberg. He has been off his game for so long, arguably since he won his first best director Academy Award. Every new project fills me with anticipation that the talented helmer will rediscover his hunger. The Spielberg cannon over nearly two decades reeks of mawkishness to such a degree that cinemas should have airline-style sick bags in case of audience sentimental gut-churning. Fortunately, LINCOLN is not the cloying-fest it might’ve been. There are of course saccharine moments, but the tone template is similar to THE WEST WING, for better or worse:
- Rat-a-tat dialogue,
- Engaging procedural politics,
- Patriotic chest-beating, and
- Charismatic mouthpieces for ideological discourse.
Too many biopics make the mistake of covering an entire life in one movie. Even with a runtime of 150 minutes that is a tall order. The wisest filmmakers chose to examine a part, from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and KUNDUN to I’M NOT THERE and THE SOCIAL NETWORK. It seems that LINCOLN is a passion project for Steven Spielberg. He has been off his game for so long, arguably since he won his first best director Academy Award. Every new project fills me with anticipation that the talented helmer will rediscover his hunger. The Spielberg cannon over nearly two decades reeks of mawkishness to such a degree that cinemas should have airline-style sick bags in case of audience sentimental gut-churning. Fortunately, LINCOLN is not the cloying-fest it might’ve been. There are of course saccharine moments, but the tone template is similar to THE WEST WING, for better or worse:
- Rat-a-tat dialogue,
- Engaging procedural politics,
- Patriotic chest-beating, and
- Charismatic mouthpieces for ideological discourse.
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“Euclid's first common notion is this: Things which are equal to the same things are equal to each other. That's a rule of mathematical reasoning and its true because it works - has done and always will do. In his book Euclid says this is self evident. You see there it is even in that 2000 year old book of mechanical law it is the self evident truth that things which are equal to the same things are equal to each other,” Abraham Lincoln
Even if you’re neither fan of THE WEST WING or Spielberg, there is one essential reason to watch LINCOLN: Daniel Day-Lewis. His performance is not only thespianism of the highest order, but feels envelope pushing – to recreate someone from the past, where there is no footage, and make that figure come alive from the mind’s eye. He delivers cadence, diction, eloquence – on one level – posture, movement – on another – and looking uncannily alike. Is Day-Lewis the greatest celluloid actor of all time? Only Brando and De Niro might challenge his hegemony, but I’d stick with Daniel. The filmmakers won the cinema lottery by his taking on the part. Humanising such a legendary leader might have been all but impossible without the (so far) double Oscar-winner.
We meet Abraham Lincoln for the first time in January 1865, the fourth year of the American Civil War. The Confederates are losing, and before their likely capitulation, the President, having just won a second term, spies an opportunity to push through the 13th Amendment to the constitution, to abolish slavery. Already passed by the Senate, the final hurdle is now the House of Representatives. We watch over a gripping two-and-a-half hours something akin to a thriller, driven purely by mesmerising dramaturgy and role-playing, as a genius of political manoeuvring navigates the choppiest of waters to end a stain on humanity. LINCOLN is far from a cold game of chess, there is warmth pulsating from the lead, especially the family interactions.
“This is the face of someone who has fought long and hard for the good of the people without caring much for any of 'em. And I look a lot worse without the wig,” Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones)
Another hero, and I do not use that word lightly, is Thaddeus Stevens: Portrayed as so ahead of his time, so enlightened, as to beggar belief. The scene where Lee Jones and Day-Lewis convene in a basement kitchen, while a soiree goes on overhead, to discuss justice and the abolishment, is pure cinematic joy – you watch two acting titans articulate top-notch dialogue as if roman candles are going off in synchronicity.
Not flawless, LINCOLN is still a must-see work.