Lincoln

The year is 1865 and the United States of America has been involved for the last four years in the bloodiest conflict in its short history: the Civil War. Both the Confederate States and the Union are exhausted and ready to end the war and enter into a time of peace. To reach an agreement for peace, however, is not an easy task. The South wishes for slavery to be continued if they are to be let back into the States, while President Lincoln and the Union wishes for slavery to be abolished. While President Abraham Lincoln tries to persuade the South to surrender and be let back into the states, he also tries to get a new amendment passed in Congress: the 13th Amendment in the hopes to kill two birds with one stone.

Lincoln is without a doubt a masterpiece. Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing as President Lincoln. When I first saw pictures of him in character before the film arrived in theaters, I had to do a double-take because I was totally taken off guard at how much he looked like the 16th President. The film is a bit slow at times, especially during the scenes where Congress is arguing about whether or not to pass the 13th Amendment, but despite that the entire film is phenomenal. It was interesting to see a different side of President Lincoln. Whenever you hear about him in a history book or on the History Channel you almost always only hear about his time as President and never about his family life. Lincoln shows us his devotion to his family in the midst of all his political troubles. The film also suggests that President Lincoln resorted to not-so-honest methods of passing the 13th Amendment: he hires a few lobbyists to persuade Congressmen to vote in favor (although he forbids them to outright bribe the voters with money).

I'm not normally a historical fiction kind of guy when it comes to films, but Lincoln is one of the best historically based films I've seen in recent years. I wouldn't be surprised if Daniel Day-Lewis was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the 16th President.