Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg bring ‘Lincoln’ to vivid life

  • By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
  • Thursday, November 8, 2012 8:56am
  • LifeGo-See-Do

We’ve had more than 100 years of people playing Abraham Lincoln on screen, from the work of movie pioneer D.W. Griffith through the eyebrow-raising proposition of “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.”

This leads to a couple of issues. How do you play a character so familiar? And how do you not play him as a larger-than-life American legend straight off Mount Rushmore?

Within the first five minutes of Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” you have some of the answers to these questions. Maybe not the “how,” because it’s hard to fathom how Daniel Day-Lewis does his mysterious disappearing act into his characters.

However he does it, the unrecognizable Day-Lewis has beamed directly into a fascinating figure and brought him to credible, right-here-on-this-Earth life. High-pitched in his vocal effect, tall of bearing yet somehow hunched over, this Lincoln is a brilliant strategist with a calculating streak that does not negate his humanity.

Spielberg’s film, given a very literate script by Tony Kushner, is focused on a particular month in the life of the president. It’s January 1865, and Lincoln has just been re-elected for his second term in office.

The Civil War continues to bleed the country, but Lincoln has decided to spend his political capital on pushing the 13th amendment to the Constitution. This is the amendment abolishing slavery in the United States.

The fierce congressional arguments that surround this proposition, and the various levels of chess-playing and chicanery that attend it, make for an engrossing movie. At least they do to me. But maybe the movie is what the real Abraham Lincoln meant when he allegedly said, “People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.”

It’s talky, for sure, and some of the talk is so rooted in a tangy 19th-century lingo that it’s occasionally hard to parse. Yet it sounds right.

Spielberg and Kushner take this Lincoln into some intriguing spots, especially in a marital dust-up with his mercurial wife (Sally Field, solid). The scene suggests that Lincoln is both an amateur psychiatrist and an existentialist before his time, ideas borne out by previous studies of Lincoln.

Day-Lewis captures the humor, too. Lincoln is, to the annoyance of his associates, a slow-drawling joke-teller, whose meaning is not always immediately apparent.

Those associates include his loyal secretary of state, William Seward (David Strathrairn), and the fiercely sarcastic anti-slavery congressman, Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones). Jones’ role, by the way, is no mere cameo but a thundering moral compass for the movie, even when the movie suggests that compasses must be tweaked when aiming for a destination.

The rest of the cast is too long to detail, but they’re excellent. Spielberg makes one big mistake, in extending his film at least 10 minutes beyond the natural end of the story of the 13th Amendment. He can’t resist reaching for the big-canvas statement, but the most effective things in the picture are watching the process — and a remarkable American — work at a microscopic level.

“Lincoln” (3½ stars)

A literate, strategy-minded account of Abraham Lincoln’s plan to win congressional approval of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. Steven Spielberg directs this as a dynamic conversation piece, anchored by an exceptional performance by an unrecognizable Daniel Day-Lewis.

Rated: PG-13 for violence, language.

Showing: Pacific Place.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.