Lincoln The Movie review is based on my opinions and experiences. I loved the movie, and I hope you do too!
I will start by being very honest about my taste for historical movies. I am really not a big fan. There I said it! I often find them boring and lacking emotion so I generally don't get really excited about watching them, which is exactly how I felt entering the theater to screen the newest DreamWorks film Lincoln. Though much to my surprise this film blew me away.
WOW... really that is the word I will use to describe Daniel Day-Lewis' ability to pull off one of the most iconic presidents of our nation's history. I never felt like I was watching an actor portray a president, for the first time I felt like I was watching the president himself. It's one thing to give voice to a person of such high profile, and sound similar, or make similar gestures, but he was Lincoln. That's the only way I can describe it. Daniel Day-Lewis went back in time and captured the look and the spirit of our beloved president Lincoln in a way I have never seen a president depicted on screen.
He wasn't the only member of the cast that deserves mention because Tommy Lee Jones also did a fantastic job giving life to Thaddeus Stevens, the "Radical Republican" who fought not only for the freedom of slaves but the equality of African Americans in both the eyes of the law and the people. I have always loved Tommy Lee Jones, but I believe this is the best work he has ever done. As crotchety, and annoying as his character may have been, he had a passion for equality and made me cry and laugh out loud.
I could go on and on.
Sally Field, brought Mary Lincoln to life in a way I have never experienced before making me want to research the highly criticized First Lady, and learn the truth for myself. It was easy to relate to her grief in losing a child, and how strong she must have been to be able to deal with that grief in the public eye. Seeming both cold and strong, while inside her heart was shattered and afraid.
Every character in this movie was so real, raw, and powerful, dominating their time on screen and owning their characters in such a way that it felt more like watching the actual events unfold before your eyes than it ever felt like a movie.
This movie is powerful, entertaining, and full of life. It's the perfect movie for the times we live in because it gives hope that maybe just maybe we can have a government that truly cares for its people, and is willing to make hard choices and changes that are what has made this nation great.
As someone who has never cared much for historical films, I can honestly say this movie awakened a hunger inside me. A hunger to know more about those times in our nation's history, and a hunger to know the people of those times in ways I never considered before. They were more than their positions they were real people, and this film captured that in a way I have never experienced before.
I'm sure I will be writing about this film again, but if you read nothing else, read this:
You have to see this movie for yourself!
Oh, and if you haven't seen it yet, check out these Lincoln Trailers and Stills!
Get animated!