"Lincoln": one-paragraph review

2012's "Lincoln," directed by Steven Spielberg, stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the eponymous 16th president of a fractious union. Instead of showing us Abraham Lincoln's entire life, the film concentrates on the final few months of the Civil War from January 1865 to April, when Lincoln was assassinated. The movie's focus is less on the Civil War itself and more on the political ructions arising from Lincoln's efforts to pass the 13th Amendment, i.e., the one abolishing slavery (it was passed at the end of January but wasn't ratified until December, months after Lincoln's death). Much of the political wrangling had to do with a mixture of complex factors ranging from principles like natural law and states' rights to the timing of the amendment, which came to a vote at right around the same time that the South might have been suing for peace. The film portrays Lincoln as calm but pragmatic, not rejecting underhanded tactics when necessary to get his way. Watching the movie now, at the end of 2024, allows one to see the timelessness of certain recurrent themes in politics. The movie is also not shy about how the Republicans were the abolitionists while the Democrats were the pro-slavery crowd. "Lincoln" is well shot and well acted, with Day-Lewis's nasal, high-voiced, nebbishy performance garnering praise from critics (the real Abraham Lincoln apparently had a hunched posture and a reedy voice that did carry well across crowds; by all accounts, he sounded nothing like Gregory Peck). The ensemble cast of "Lincoln" contains names and faces of older actors who were already famous at the time and younger actors who have since become famous. In all, this is an entertaining historical drama about a pivotal moment in American history, and while John Williams's score for the movie is much more subdued than usual, the movie as a whole is definitely worth a watch, not only for Day-Lewis's Oscar-winning performance but also for Tommy Lee Jones's; Jones steals pretty much every scene he's in.