Lincoln

 Spoilers Ahead

Let me begin by saying that I am most-certainly the nightmare audience for Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln. Not only am I a history nerd, I am quite particularly a Civil War nerd with a head for trivia and, as if that weren't enough, a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee and abiding admirer of our 16th President. There are not many moviegoers, I'd wager, better-equipped than I to give this movie a hard time.

So as much as I was excited for the film, I was prepared to be let down. I also, naturally, really knew the score going in. Not merely that Lincoln gets shot (in terms of guaranteed endings, this one is in a class of two with Titanic), but that the 13^th Amendment gets passed and the Confederate peace commissioners get waylaid and so on. I'd heard beforehand that this film was much more political procedural than biopic, and I'd also heard troubling mention of another Spielberg period procedural, Amistad (which is a fine and meaningful and important film, but no one's idea of invigorating).

I am relieved to report that the film is exceptional. The casting is superb, the costuming is perfect, the sets and locations are first-rate. And the acting, well, is majestic. Daniel Day-Lewis inhabits the role of Lincoln in a way I doubt any other actor could. Lincoln is known all at once for his great intelligence, almost-saintly kindness, steely resolve as a War President, an earthy, wry wit, absolutely unparalleled skills as a politician and, lastly and above all, an overwhelming sadness and fragility. This would be a difficult personality for any actor to portray, and a lesser one than Day-Lewis could be forgiven for retreating to booming pronouncements on the better angels of our nature and a just and lasting peace and so on.

But ah, this is not a one-man show. Indeed, it is almost an ensemble. Much of the early part of the film is given over to Day-Lewis and David Strathairn as Lincoln’s friend and confidant Secretary of State William Seward, and the chemistry they exhibit is electric. Likewise, Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln gives complexity and depth to a personality generally thought of in American history as little more than a raving loon.

To avoid fawning too much on all the little things, I will move forward to report that the central conflict of the film revolves around the passage of the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution, more familiar as the Amendment that outlawed slavery finally, once and for all. The battle with the Copperhead Democrats in the House over the 13^th takes up a large part of the film, and indeed sends Lincoln to the background, a brooding, beleaguered presence in the White House. 

The scenes in the House are dominated by Tommy Lee Jones as old Thad Stevens, one of the most radical of the Radical Republicans and an ardent champion not only abolition but of civil rights for blacks. The entire Congressional ensemble is stupendous.

The process of buying Democratic votes is given over to a trio of Republican Party operatives that constitutes not one an interesting subplot but injects a healthy dose of comic relief into the proceedings. James Spader is particularly enjoyable as the ringleader of the gang. Speaking of the vote on the 13^th, it is testament to screenwriter and director that the scene is exceptionally tense, considering anyone who remained awake in history class knows the outcome.

As someone who generally dislikes overlong movies I feel it’s important to note that though it clocks in at two and a half hours, Lincoln never feels bloated or self-important. Even the Spielbergian extended-ending, the closest the film comes to outright melodrama, is comparatively brief and fitting.

Overall, I simply cannot recommend this film highly enough. Stephen Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis have given us a great gift, an honest and enduring portrayal of perhaps the most complex and mythical figure in American history.