Mark's Movie of the Week #4: Lincoln

 

Reliance Entertainment; Participant Media; Dune Entertainment; Amblin Entertainment; The Kennedy/Marshall Company; DreamWorks Pictures; 20th Century Fox; Touchstone Pictures; November 9, 2012; 150 minutes.
Screenplay by Tony Kushner
Based on the 2005 biography Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Lincoln is a 2012 American biographical historical drama film, starring Daniel Day Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln.  In January 1865, U.S. President Lincoln expects the Civil War to end soon, with the defeat of the Confederate States.  He is concerned that his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation may be discarded by the courts after the war and that the proposed Thirteenth Amendment will be defeated by the returning slave states.  He feels it imperative to pass the amendment before hand, to remove any possibility that freed slaves might be re-enslaved.  The radical Republicans fear the amendment will be defeated by some who wish to delay the passage; support from Republicans in the border states is not yet assured.  The amendment also requires the support of several Democratic congressmen to pass. With dozens of Democrats being lame ducks after losing their re-election campaigns in the fall of 1864, some of Lincoln's advisors believe he should wait for a new Republican-heavy congress.  Lincoln remains adamant about having the amendment in place before the war is concluded and the southern states are admitted.  Lincoln's hopes rely upon Francis Preston Blair, a founder of the Republican Party whose influence could win over members of the border states' conservative faction.  With a Union victory in the civil war highly likely, but not yet secured, and with two sons serving in the Union Army, Blair is keen to end hostilities quickly before the spring thaw arrives and the armies march again.  Therefore, in return for his support, Blair insists that Lincoln allow him to engage the Confederate government in peaceful negotiations.  Lincoln knows that significant support for the amendment must come from radical Republicans, for whom negotiated peace is
unacceptable.  Unable to proceed without Blair's support, Lincoln reluctantly authorizes Blair's mission.  In the meantime, Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward work to secure Democratic votes for the amendment.  Meanwhile, Lincoln's son, Robert, returns from law school and announces his intention to discontinue his studies and enlist in the Union Army, hoping to earn a measure of honor and respect outside of his father's shadow before the war ends.  At a critical moment in the debate in the House of Representatives, racial-equality advocate Thaddeus Stevens agrees to moderate his position and argue that the amendment represents only legal equality, not a declaration of actual equality.  Rumors of their mission circulates, prompting both Democrats and conservative Republicans to advocate for postponing the vote.  In a carefully worded statement, Lincoln denies there are envoys in Washington, and the vote proceeds, passing by a margin of two votes.  Black visitors in the gallery celebrate, and Stevens return home to his "housekeeper" and lover, a biracial woman.  On April 3,1865, Lincoln visits the battlefield at Petersburg, VA, where he exchanges a few words with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. On April 9, 1865, Grant receives Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.  On April 14,1865, a cheerful Lincoln expresses to his wife that they will be happy in the future and later meets members of his cabinet to discuss future measures to enfranchise blacks, before leaving for Ford's Theatre.  That night, while Lincoln's son Tad is watching Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp at Grover's Theater, the manager suddenly stops the play to announce that the President had been shot. The next morning at the Petersen House, Lincoln dies with a peaceful expression across his face; in a flashback, Lincoln finishes his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. Lincoln also stars Sally Field, Gloria Reuben, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gulliver McGrath, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Elizabeth Marvel, Bill Camp, Adam Driver, Jared Harris, Asa-Luke Twocrow, Colman Domingo,Lukas Haas, Dane DeHaan, David Strathairn, Bruce  McGill,  Joseph Cross, Jeremy Strong, Grainger Hines, Richard Topol, Dakin Matthews, Walt Smith, James Ike Eichling, Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Pace, Peter McRobbie, Bill Raymond, David Constable, Stephen Spinella, Michael Stuhlbarg, Boris McGiver, Walton Goggins, David Warshofsky, Michael Stanton Kennedy, Raynor Scheine, Christopher Evan Welch, Wayne Duvall, James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson, John Hawkes, Byron Jennings, Julie White, S. Epatha Merkerson, John Hutton, Jackie Earle Haley, Gregory Itzin, Michael Shiflett, Christopher Boyer and Hal Holbrook who played Lincoln in the 1976 miniseries Carl Sandburg's Lincoln and the 1985 & 1986 miniseries North and South Books I & II.  Lincoln was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 2 Oscars including Best Actor (Daniel Day Lewis) and Best Production Design (Rick  Carter and Jim Erickson).  It is also listed on many critics top ten lists including The New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly , The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, The Times-Picayune, ReelViews, Time Out New York, The A.V. Club, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald, Rolling Stone, IndieWire, New York Daily News, Boston Globe, HitFix, Associated Press, Salon.com, MSN Movies, The Denver Post, NPR, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.  Lincoln was Steven Spielberg's best!