Based on the Doris Kearns Goodwin book and adapted for the screen by Tony Kushner, director Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List) has put together a sometimes powerful, often ponderous account of our 16th President as he attempts to preserve our fragile union. While there is much to praise about this film, its product overall is painfully below expectations.
Premise: Recounting the final months of the Civil War as Lincoln navigates unsteady political waters in Washington. Result: A fair story that ultimately tripped up by pedantic and long-winded delivery.
Lincoln follows the difficult journey of President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he tackles the political complexities of our 13th Amendment and an end to the war that nearly destroyed the nation. It depicts him as physically fragile but mentally strong, using his sharp intellect to navigate the dangerous political waters of disunited Washington. His allies such as Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn) and Preston Blair (Hal Holbrook) seem to pull him in many directions, including the attempted negotiation of peace with a Confederate caravan led by Confederate VP Alexander Stevens (Jackie Earle Haley).
On the other hand, with Seward, he constructs a delicate alliance with Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) as the head of the Radical Republican faction as he attempts to end slavery once and for all with the 13th Amendment. He even employs corrupt undesirables like W.N. Bilbo (James Spader) to negotiate backroom patronage schemes to procure votes for the partisan amendment. It seems that the Union is divided on the Amendment: Democrats led by Fernando Wood (Lee Pace) and George Pendleton (Peter McRobbie) are pro-slavery; conservative Republicans led loosely by Blair will only pass the 13th Amendment as a military procedure to end the war (and won’t pass it if peace is in sight), and Radicals led by Stevens want the amendment as a stepping stone to future equality measures.
The politics ultimately weigh on Lincoln, aging him terribly and drastically, especially as he also works with Edwin Stanton (Bruce McGill) and General Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) to end one of the bloodiest, most horrific wars in history. He is further flanked by his brilliant but dramatic wife Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) who never misses an opportunity to speak her mind no matter the consequences. Never recovering from the loss of her youngest child Willy, as eldest Robert Lincoln (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) entertains notions of entering the war, Mary (“Molly”) rages with fire that puts all politicians in comparative shadow.
Ultimately, the film manages to herd many dysfunctional plotlines and present a somewhat coherent narrative that is both interesting and educational. However, Spielberg delivers this complexity with strikingly novice results. First, Lincoln himself, while somewhat charming, is nothing more than a frightening Grandpa Moses look-alike, delivering every line and point through long-winded, often agonizing prose that is likely to frighten everyone away.
Spielberg does draw attention to this deliberate technique, even having Stanton exclaim and flee, “Oh no, you are going to tell a story. I can’t handle another story!” Nevertheless, audiences will feel alienated by this approach: while the stories convey relevant messages and often entertain, there is a deep sense of avoidable tedium that resonates.
On some level, this is pervasive throughout the story itself. While there is value to being realistic and highlighting the differences between today and the past, the ultimate delivery of the film is unengaging and prohibits repeat viewings. Additionally, Spielberg’s canonization of Lincoln borders of sycophantic adoration, never missing an opportunity to lionize the man not only through words but through direction, even going so far as to have a scene where audiences literally watch the man stumble down a long hallway, as if we are watching procession to Heaven.
The acting is, as expected, quite strong throughout. Day-Lewis once again embodies his character and we believe firmly that he is Lincoln in every breath, every syllable, every awkward, interminable tale. Lee Jones is also quite powerful and his story and character continue to evolve until the very last moment. Field is surprisingly powerful in this film, not because her talent is in doubt, but because she delivers a character that is far more central than expected, lingering in the minds of observers long after she has left the screen.
Strathairn and Holbrook add brilliance to the screen as do Pace and McRobbie. Magill and Harris, for their limited roles also add value, rounding out a historical cast of characters that may be unparalleled in history. Spader, adds a bit of comic relief as Bilbo, the corrupt Pirate-like creature that slithers from scene to scene. Gordon-Levitt, however, while delivering his role appropriately, is not relevant in the film; he ultimately takes a role that rightfully could have been edited completely from the film and audiences be none the wiser.
In the end, Lincoln is a fair film that is a bit of a miss. With all the talent in this film as well as such a monumental storyline, there is something much too slow about the delivery that ultimately takes away from the final product. Unlike other recent historical films (for instance, Argo), Lincoln tells a story much like an anachronistic librarian with powdered white hair and enouigh self-indulgent unawareness to make anyone recoil. And that, is certainly not the Lincoln I remember.
Rating: 6 – A mediocre Prosecco that a cute bartender served you
mducoing
notlaz
movieMixology 