Lincoln (2012)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Tony Kushner (based on the book by Doris Kearns Goodwin)
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones 
Music: John Williams
Time: 150 minutes 
Bottom-line: An excellent performance-driven film

Emerging as the film with maximum Academy nominations at the 85th Academy Awards (with 12 nominations), Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is a biopic that focuses entirely on the last months of American President Abraham Lincoln. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis - who won his third Oscar for acting – Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones in the lead roles, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Hal Holbrook in the supporting roles, this film draws strong performances from all of them.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln

The film mainly tells the events in Lincoln’s life dealing with the passing of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States. President Lincoln (Lewis) wants to abolish slavery in the US, and also wants the Civil War to end soon. He finds out that even if all the Republicans vote for it, he still requires votes from several Democratic congressmen for it to pass. So he decides to get help from Francis Blair, another politician, who in turn asks for peace negotiations between the Confederates and the Union. (Not explaining the full plot, for I have to into history for that) The rest of the film covers the various incidents: how Lincoln tries to get votes, whether or not the Amendment is actually passed, and what happens to the Civil War. The film ends with Lincoln’s assassination.

Lincoln's wife Mary Todd Lincoln, played
by Sally Field

Unlike other biopics that I have seen, which focus on many years of a person’s life (as in The Aviator and The Iron Lady), Lincoln focuses only on the last four months of Lincoln’s life, and hence the film is bit more detailed than expected. So I found it difficult to follow the plot, as it speaks a lot about American history, with which you have to be familiar to understand the plot. I felt that Spielberg could have used a voice-over perhaps to give an introduction as to what the film is going to dealing with, thereby helping most of the viewers (even those not so familiar with Lincoln) to understand the film. Of course, after reading the summary of the film later and surfing about American history a little I was able to follow the story.

Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens,
another person who helps Lincoln secure
the votes. 

But yet, one can have a vague idea of the plot if he listens to the dialogues carefully. Other than the story, everything else about the film is almost flawless. The period settings are excellent, and the costumes as well. And the make-up was well, simply astonishing! Daniel Day-Lewis looks like the actual Lincoln, and others like Sally Field and Jones also look pretty much like the real-life characters. John Williams’ score was superb, and in all his collaborations with Spielberg, he has never failed to deliver.

As I said, the make-up and costumes were superb.
Here is a comparison between the actual Abraham
Lincoln (left), and Lewis portraying Lincoln 

Now, to the important part: the acting. Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Academy Award for Best Actor, making him the person to have won it the most number of times. He appears in almost all the scenes of the film, he has several lengthy dialogues and a lot of responsibility as well (for after all, his character is the one that does everything!). His facial expressions, voice modulations are all brilliant, and I am guessing even the actual Abraham Lincoln would have been impressed! Tommy Lee Jones’ provides some humour here and there, and also has some powerful dialogues. Sally Field plays Lincoln's wife, and her character’s importance is shown in the film, and her acting is also splendid. Both Jones and Field were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress respectively at the Oscars. Thanks to the acting (of other supporting actors as well) and dialogues, the courtroom scenes – even if you can’t understand what is going on – are quite interesting to watch. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has also done well, even if his role is a small one.

To conclude, Steven Spielberg’s biopic Lincoln shines in its acting and settings. Its story is good, and now that I know the actual events covered in the film, I say Spielberg and the writers have actually done well to make a decent film out of a what would usually be a history lesson. But the problem is that a number of the viewers may not be familiar with the life of Lincoln, and hence find the movie boring. Yet, I found the film to be good thanks to the other aspects. Worst case, if you feel that you still can’t understand the film, at least watch for the first-class acting!

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%