Lincoln (2012)

The movie Lincoln (2012) is a complete and utter success in the muck of Hollywood mess that is going on in today's world. Anymore you have to be really lucky to run across a quality movie full of a little spice of everything: history, suspense, conflict, AWESOME plot, inspirational acting, and so forth. Lincoln has it all!

The tail of the United States of America's sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, is an extraordinary story and very intriguing. What is even more interesting is the couple of months leading up to his assassination: what the movie is centered around. The movie follows closely with Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln."

Being in an Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) class, I followed the historical facts very closely. To my surprise, they were extremely accurate! (We just happened to be learning about the Civil War and the Reconstruction that followed it with all of the battles, generals, and debates over slavery.)

I saw the movie with my aunt and her history buff husband, my mom, and my dad. My father, personally, thought that there was too much sophisticated dialogue and diction. I tried to explain to him that that was the way they spoke back then, so poetic-like!

The acting, however, was a plus according to my dad. Tony Kushner (the man that played President Lincoln) did a fantastic job, and his makeup team did even better. I felt like I was placed inside a time machine and warped back to the early 19th century!

There was a big inside look into the White House: from Lincoln's wife Mary Todd to the tenseness between him and his son Robert. While you can either infer or do your homework on the subject that the Lincoln family was full of tragedy: from losing a few children to illnesses and miscarriages all the way up till the assassination. His oldest son at the time, Robert, wanted so much to please his parents (mostly his father) by volunteering and enlisting in the Union armed forces during the Civil War. He felt so guilty about other men sacrificing themselves for their country and president... his father. There was a soft side to President Abraham Lincoln that was shown during the film particularly during the sentimental times playing with his youngest boy Todd. Todd had such a fascination with helping the little African American slave boys. He felt that they were just like him. The character in the film perfectly depicted his fatherly and soft side.

Something you can't learn in history books at schools is how soft spoken and heavy hearted Mr. Lincoln was. In the movie, he seemed to be such a wise and philosophical person. What better person to lead our country. You always learn that he was loved so much by all of the people: enough to get him elected and later reelected, but you never learn why.

Not many battles were shown up on the big screen during this movie, but you could see and feel the passion in the members of Congress, Senators, Representatives, and all the other characters on the conflicts at hand: slavery, secession, and war. I could see where one would become extremely emotional at certain moments: where the African Americans enter the Union capital, when Mary Todd gets down on hands and knees and begs her husband to keep their oldest son, Robert, from battle, or when Abraham Lincoln makes his final speech.

The only beef that I have with the movie is that it was a tad bit too long... like... "throw your soda, popcorn, and chocolate covered raisins at the projector screen" long. But I didn't because I remembered what the movie was about. The plot of that movie didn't deserve to be 150 minutes... it deserved to be more! A story as inspirational as that one should have a documentary volume set length.

The story ends in expecting fashion. After a troubled campaign towards the 13th amendment in efforts to end the war, free the slaves, and reconstruct the union back to the way it was pre-war times, Abraham Lincoln was praised by most and hated even more by few. The very few, however, prevailed. Mary Todd, his wife, was so happy with her husband that she wanted him to make an appearance at the local performance center, Ford Theater in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865: a play. The play was called "Our American Cousin."

The play went from an upbeat performance to a quick tragedy in a moment of seconds. John Wilkes Booth, a confederate leader in the Old South that despised Lincoln, shot our president in the back of the head right next to his wife. Luckily Lincoln's youngest son, Todd, was in another theater at another performance.

The movie never showed John Wilkes Booth, the shooting, the escape, the arrest, or the conspiracy aftermath trials, but what they did show was the emotional family and country after his death. The funeral was then showed, and the film faded to the credits with a Lincoln ghost giving the last speech of his presidency... and life.

The director, Steven Spielberg, did a fantastic job with this one. How do I know that? I'll tell you. My mother falls asleep during EVERY movie, at least once or permanently (until the movie ends). Even with the dimmed theater lights and warm popcorn can on her lap, she didn't batt an eyelash or droop one eye. She was wide awake the whole time and on the edge of her seat... right next to my aunt. My aunt that doesn't give two hoots about history or anything political for that matter. She absolutely loved it! In fact she said she might buy it for her husband, who completely and totally adored it! My mother, who never watches a movie more than twice, said she couldn't wait until it came out on DVD so she could rent it!

So needless to say that going to the movies that late Sunday afternoon for the matinee was utter perfection for the whole family: uncle and aunt included. Lincoln will forever be in my list of favorite people and most inspirational people. He will also be my all time favorite president... right next to Kennedy, of course! #biased (1044) :)