Movie Review: Lincoln

In what would have been the third movie of the Academy Award docket at AMC, was the second for me as my friend and I skipped Life of Pi due to there being no pie in the movie at all.  As the title would suggest, Lincoln follows the former US president as he tries to get the thirteenth amendment passed prior to the end of the Civil War.  The story sets the state of Lincoln in an almost comical fashion contrasted with a quiet control that manages to accomplish things that seem impossible.  Knowing the overall ending of the story did make it a bit of a cheat, but the movie was very entertaining with very memorable performances from everyone in the cast.

My expectations going in were that I’d be bored to tears.  It isn’t that I don’t care for American history so much as I like a good story, a good adventure, and I didn’t think I’d get either in this movie.  I wasn’t wrong, per say,  the story is very focused on dialogue and little action.  The subtlety of the story grows on you as it goes on, making it seem accessible and for once making history not feel so tiresome.  I can’t say that I liked all of it.  I felt like there was so much going on, a stouter cast might have gave a better impression of the scope of things, though I can appreciate that the president of the United States does indeed have a far-reaching influence.  I have seen a lot of Joseph Gordon-Levitt this year and I felt like his inclusion was a bit much and felt forced.  Sally Field and Daniel Day-Lewis were superb, as was most of the cast.  I don’t know that I’d ever recommend a movie like this, but it was worth watching.  I would never have seen it if not for it being included in AMC’s all-day event.