honestly abe

Movie number five in our Oscar overload is Steven Spielberg’s latest film, Lincoln. If the name isn’t recognisable (because you’ve been living under a rock since the early seventies), Spielberg is one of Hollywood’s most prolific directors, with much-loved titles such as War Horse, Catch Me If You Can, Schindler’s List, and of course E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial under his belt. His most recent directorial endeavour is based on the true story of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and how he managed to abolish slavery in the 1860s; a time when beards were long, top hats were ridiculously tall and a civil war raged on. Caution: Lincoln contains lots of political shit.

rating: ★★★★1/4

It really doesn’t make sense that I loved this film so much: I don’t like American history, am generally bored to tears by political mumbo-jumbo, and the only eye-candy in the whole film was a bearded Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who never once took his shirt off. And yet, I thought this movie was bloody fantastic! Daniel Day-Lewis was absolutely amazing/inspiring/charming/faultless in his portrayal of Lincoln, because he managed to bring this image of an American hero down to earth and made him loveable and relatable. For me it was the best performance of all the males nominated for Best Leading Actor at the Oscars; not surprising when he’s supported by Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln and Tommy Lee Jones, both of whom were just awesome in general. The screenplay, adapted from Lincoln’s biography, ‘Team of Rivals’, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, found that perfect balance between a script that is political accurate (with lots of big political words), and a script that is understandable to the layman, with some witty one liners and uplifting speeches to keep the ball rolling. The historical element only made the film more awe-inspiring and epic, not to mention educational (although I think they left out the part with the vampire hunters???).  On top of all this, the sets and costumes made me wish I could teleport back to the 1860s, which is saying a lot considering there was a war going on and a lot of racial stuff was going down…

I'm not usually one to cop out and give a 1/4 star rating, but there was just something holding me back from giving an all-out 1/2. I will admit the movie was LONG, and there were probably one or two scenes that could have been done away with. There were also a few schmaltzy moments where the orchestra would swell just a little too inspirationally for my taste, however in saying that, for the most part the score was great; subtle and not too in-your-face. I realise this film definitely won’t be for everyone, but I do recommend a trip to the cinema. You never know, you might be pleasantly surprised.          

Madolyn

rating: ★★★

While there's not really any point in denying the critical brilliance of this movie, for me it just wasn't really a standout in any way. The best way I've seen it described is that it was just kind of...there. It was good, yes, but it wasn't entertaining, and that's what makes a movie for me. Also, it was really very long. Usually, as shown by my reviews of previous Oscar contenders, that's not really an issue for me, but this one didn't have the entertainment value to sustain it. That being said, I love Abraham Lincoln in all forms of himself, the vampire hunter version, the actual historical version and now the Daniel Day Lewis version. He was warm and inspirational and his love for telling stories was what kept me watching the film. DDL is definitely going to win the Best Actor for this role, because of his strength of character and also because he's portraying a great American hero, and, well, the Academy loves that. All in all, a good film if you're the Academy, sets and costume design and acting all brilliant, but if you're going to the cinema, prepare yourself for a hard slog - the road ahead is tough.