Lincoln - The Movie

EDelahanty

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Following a copious Thanksgiving dinner, the Delahanty family hoisted themselves out of their seats and trucked over to the local multiplex to see the new Lincoln movie.

In an uncrowded theater we saw amazing performances by Sally Fields, Tommy Lee Jones, and others. If scene-stealing were an actual crime, James Spader could be indicted. Bruce McGill as Secretary of War Stanton also gave one of the many remarkable performances by minor characters. Above all, two time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis gave a thoroughly convincing portrayal of Lincoln as a great man forced to bear immense burdens with compassion and determination.

The central drama of the movie is the struggle to pass the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in the House of Representatives during the last months of the Civil War. If like many of us you are unaware of the relationship between the Emancipation Proclamation and the amendment, and the necessity of the latter, this movie will enlighten you. The thickly textured movie depicts other conflicts as well: within Lincoln's family and cabinet, as well as within Lincoln himself. The horrific violence of the Civil War itself is presented only briefly at the beginning of the film, but with powerful effect.

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Spoiler alert: Steven Spielberg and screenplay writer Tony Kushner were said to have strived for historical accuracy. However, unlike the more factual "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", there was not a single mention of Lincoln's lifelong quest to destroy vampires, and neither he nor his wife Mary were shown to have heroically killed the vampire leaders before escaping from an exploding train. This is probably why the attendance was sparse.
 
I'm quite surprised your theater was attended so sparsely. I attended the day after Thanksgiving and the showing I went to was completely sold out. The owner of the (admittedly a bit small for DC area) cinema was making sure everyone had seats.

I found the focus on the 13th Amendment as opposed to solely the war most riveting. I was in an American history class last year that had a fairly good sized unit on the civil war, but the difficulties of passing that particular amendment were not addressed in this kind of detail, making this movie much more interesting for telling an important piece of the puzzle I had previously been unaware of.
 
I'm quite surprised your theater was attended so sparsely. I attended the day after Thanksgiving and the showing I went to was completely sold out. The owner of the (admittedly a bit small for DC area) cinema was making sure everyone had seats.

I found the focus on the 13th Amendment as opposed to solely the war most riveting. I was in an American history class last year that had a fairly good sized unit on the civil war, but the difficulties of passing that particular amendment were not addressed in this kind of detail, making this movie much more interesting for telling an important piece of the puzzle I had previously been unaware of.

We saw the movie on Thanksgiving. Probably the soporific tryptophan had everyone else snoozing, resting up for the 11 p.m. shopping stampede.

Anyway, the movie is a must-see, and I intend to see it at least one more time. For anyone who hasn't seen it, here's a suggestion: take a few minutes to read Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation before you go.
 
Looks like I should've seen that instead of Red Dawn...we went out to watch that on the last day of TG break and it was horrible. Don't watch it and if you still want to, wait until it shows up at your local library
 
WAIT....you mean Lincoln didn't slay Vampires, makes a person not know what to believe these days.
 
We saw the movie on Thanksgiving. Probably the soporific tryptophan had everyone else snoozing, resting up for the 11 p.m. shopping stampede.

Anyway, the movie is a must-see, and I intend to see it at least one more time. For anyone who hasn't seen it, here's a suggestion: take a few minutes to read Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation before you go.

Good point. I enjoyed the movie, and so did my wife who usually hates history.
 
We just saw the movie last weekend at a matinee and the theater was packed. I want to see it again, to pick up all that I missed!

Shocked that it was a Spielberg film, politically charged, without being necessarily politically correct.
 
Lincoln was a great movie. Daniel Day Lewis is great in everything he does. Interesting spin on 13th Amendment. It makse a lot of sense on why they pushed it through so fast. Editors Note - Jackie Earle Haley who portrayed Confedrate VP Alexandar Stephens in Lincoln was the tough kid in the original Bad News Bears (1976)

Red Dawn - I dont know if I can go to see it. I remember watching the original over and over with my college friends until the wee hours of the morning. Cant replace those memories.
 
Asked son if he had seen "Red Dawn" and he replied: you mean Red YAWN? haha

Norwich, I was wondering where I'd seen that face but just couldn't place it.
 
WAIT....you mean Lincoln didn't slay Vampires, makes a person not know what to believe these days.

I know, I had the exact same feeling.

I think the two movies are just different focuses on Lincoln's life during the Civil War that happened at the same time.
 
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