The truly remarkable thing about Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” is just how far it is from the stuffy biopic many will doubtlessly be expecting. Sure, it contains the typically soft Spielbergian ending, complete with the somber John Williams orchestra, but here is a movie that understands how to tell a historical drama by stripping away the grand, sweeping overtones, focusing instead on the practicalities of the day.
While it could have been a soporific bore with big speeches, dramatic plot shifts and overwrought emotional send-offs, it is elevated by an excellent script by Tony Kushner and powerhouse performances by both Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones. And then there is Spielberg, who pulls “Lincoln” together to be not only a poignant political drama but an entertaining one, complete with some powerful imagery and a terrific sense of humor.
Forget the famous image of Abe on your five-dollar bill. Forget the reciting of the Gettysburg Address and the simplistic generalizations about Lincoln fighting to outlaw slavery. From the very early scenes, “Lincoln” takes a step back from the usual biopic formula and shows Abe as a popular Republican president with a strong and vocal opposition in congress, complete with Democrats in the House of Representatives that are staunchly opposed to just about everything he does. He may be destined to be one of the greatest presidents in history, but to many members of congress, he is a loose cannon who isn’t that far from being a tyrant. Lincoln can make speeches about morality until he’s blue in the face, but he’ll have to play the political game to sneak the 13th amendment by congress and abolish slavery.
But Daniel Day-Lewis’ version of Lincoln is a practical man. In one great moment early on, soldiers and citizens crowd around to hear Abe speak. Instead of the expected long-winded speech, though, he keeps it shockingly brief, smiling to the crowd and adding “that’s my speech” to the general delight of the crowd. Lincoln was smart enough to know that the crowd didn’t want to hear another dramatic speech on piety, and it’s this understanding of his audience that makes him not only a great man but a great politician.
As the Civil War lingers on, adding up a ridiculous death toll that is unmatched in American warfare, Lincoln decides that it’s the perfect time to heal the country by ending slavery once and for all. With the bloody war expected to wrap up, they can either plunge forward and become a modern country, or they can shun the inevitability of racial progress. Lincoln deeply believes progress is the only path, but anti-abolitionist Democrats mightily disagree. Though he can count on his own party to support him, he needs 20 votes from Democrats to pass the amendment — a task that seems out of reach.
Even Lincoln’s own advisors, including Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn), also think it’s a bad political move; an uphill battle that the country isn’t ready to win and far too impractical. Even congressmen that are opposed to slavery don’t believe the country is ready, and Lincoln knows full well that he can’t predict the outcome of giving African Americans their freedom. Yet he presses on anyway, enlisting both normal tactics and some that are a little less savory. With something as important as the abolition of slavery, Abe shows that he’s not above using some questionable methods to pull a few votes away from the party line.
Helping him is Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), a grizzly anti-slavery Republican with an acerbic tongue and no patience for the opposition’s nonsense. Though this is clearly Day-Lewis’ movie, Jones has some of the most memorable scenes, including a hilarious rant on the House floor that ranks among the best dialog you’ll ever hear in a political drama. After 30 years of trying to abolish slavery, Stevens proves that he can swallow a little white lie if it accomplishes the overall goal. Though “Lincoln” takes place nearly 150 years ago, there are some eerie parallels to the political climate of today, an age when politicians still have to swallow little white lies to make progress.
As Abe’s wife, Marry Todd, Sally Field also has some great scenes that show a strong-willed woman standing behind her husband. They may fight and bicker at each other behind closed doors, on occasion, but in public she’s a dynamic force of political persuasion.
But this is Day-Lewis’ show, and he disappears into Abraham Lincoln in a performance that has to be the favorite to win the Oscar for Best Actor (surprise, surprise). The genius of Daniel Day-Lewis isn’t that he can recite serious lines with vigor and vim; it’s that he can take a subject as serious as Abraham Lincoln, completely flip expectations and come out with a funny and insightful performance that makes the great president as human as the next man. We’ve all seen Abe’s portraits and heard excerpts from his famous speeches, but “Lincoln” gives us a much better idea of what made him a great president. This version of Abe is just as gentle as we might imagine, but he knows the political practicality of his predicament and proves to be a master manipulator of congressional opinion and support.
More than anything, though, “Lincoln” reminds us how exciting history can be when told with small details instead of sweeping generalizations about a time period. Unlike Spielberg’s well-made but fairly listless “War Horse,” which was harnessed by a PG rating, “Lincoln” feels authentic from the chilling opening battles scenes on. Equal measures entertaining and illuminating, “Lincoln” shows what it takes to lead a nation into the next age, even when it seems impractical and maybe even ruinous to do so. With such a great subject, there probably could — and likely will — be other movies made about Abraham Lincoln, but it’s hard to imagine a better one.
by RTT Staff Writer
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