Daniel Day Lewis triumphs as the President in Oscar Nominated Lincoln but can he save it from being a snooze-fest?

by Genna Patterson

Lincoln has a lot going for it – it’s directed by the brilliant Steven Spielberg and it casts the ever-adaptable Daniel Day Lewis as lead, along with a host of amazing actors like Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon Levitt and James Spader. Unfortunately as is often the case with Oscar nominated movies, it’s just a bit too long and just a bit on the boring side.

This is the great American story of Abraham Lincoln and his fight to abolish slavery once and for all, and thus end the civil war. While it should get credit for being a great in-depth account of the trials and tribulations Lincoln faced, the first half of the movie gets way too bogged down on the intricacies of the political issues at heart. It’s a good hour before the movie truly gets interesting, showing us the impact of the death of the President’s son and his world weary dedication to bring down slavery once and for all. The movie is based on the biography by Doris Kearns Goodwin; 'Lincoln: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.'

The movie shows the lengths the administration went to secure votes, for something they knew was right. Enter James Spader (Boston Legal) and his cronies, as the only real light entertainment in the entire film. Spader, humorous and witty, succeeds in his role as a lobbyist sent out to nudge wavering voters toward a yes vote while offering jobs to those in the administration as reward. We see Lincoln urge the notion through, quickly before the war ends, as he knows it will never get through afterwards if he makes an agreement with the slave-wanting south.

The main issue highlighted in the movie is something you may not expect. While a lot of it focuses on simply (or not so simply as history would have it), passing the notion to abolish slavery, we are shown that is actually the aftermath that most people fear because they don't know what will happen next if it goes through. The fearful imagine over 4 million freed slaves will suddenly abound on society, leaving them where? We see the unknown is what is holding the country back. Slave traders ‘property’ will suddenly be bankrupt as they lose their assets and so on. The movie examines this fear and gives it ample time to settle in before the vote is cast.

Day Lewis – has he ever not been good in a movie? He plays Lincoln as a humble, kind and friendly man, who always has time for his family, most notably his youngest son Tad (played to full irritability by Gulliver McGrath). Day Lewis morphs into Lincoln, a man who uses funny stories to disarm his self-righteous opponents. He has them laughing before they know what’s hit them. Rather creepily though, his Lincoln has a fondness for holding grown men’s hands, which knowing Day Lewis, this could have been something the real Lincoln may have done, a heartwarming gesture, or then it could just be his interpretation of the man. Day Lewis lost weight to look more like the rail thin Lincoln, but rather unsettlingly, he walks like a puppet, a tall gangly man - did Day Lewis grow taller for this part too?! At 6 ft 1 he nearly matches the true Lincoln who was 6 ft 4.

Sally Field is a heart broken wife often scolding, yet always supporting her president husband. She wavers between distressed and bereaved over the loss of their son Willy, and worry for her eldest who wants to join the war. Joseph Gordon Levitt, is Robert the eldest Lincoln son, an angry man who wants to join the war against his parent’s wishes. Levitt doesn’t appear much and so doesn’t really get to do much with his role, which is a pity as he’s more than proven his worth with Looper and Inception in the past.

David Strathhairn (The Bourne Legacy) plays Secretary of State William Seward and gives a solid performance but is surpassed by Tommy Lee Jones as Vice President Thaddeus Stevens, a man who has his own private reasons to pass the slavery abolishment. Jarred Harris (Mad Men) plays the under utilized Ulysses S. Grant - while on screen he steals the scene, but unfortunately we don't get to see too much of him.

Lincoln is a well-made, detailed film. Perhaps there could have been more focus on the war at hand to liven things up, but Spielberg chose to focus on the political aspects instead of the civil war. Lincoln probably could have engaged audiences more if it had dumbed down some of the political talk, but then it depends if this movie is trying to engage the mass audience, or if it is simply trying to be grand and epic. Sadly, it will lose a lot of people in the first hour as they try to stay awake through stagnant political discussion scenes. If you want a deep thinker and to really get your head around the Lincoln administration problems, then this is your film. However, if you want something more entertaining and lively, maybe give it a miss. Although, it is worth watching just for Day Lewis’s performance, and that's something you can bank on time and time again.

Release date January 25.