The acting in this is amazing across the board - Daniel Day-Lewis is obviously impressive but I was especially fond of Tommy Lee Jones, who gives one of his best performances ever. Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader and a sprawling supporting cast all do great work here as well. The biggest problem here is that it doesn't feel very much like a film. It alternates between feeling like a history lecture and a play, and by Lincoln's eighth or ninth soliloquy it becomes a little tiresome. Tony Kushner has definitely done better work. Spielberg's work here is surprisingly stagey and several scenes go on too long. Visually it's pretty stunning and I liked the score as well, and the film does pick up as it goes along. But it's certainly a film I'd say I admired more than I actually enjoyed. B

I quite liked this.

I appreciated that it was more a political drama than a conventional biopic, which really wouldn't have worked. In a lot of ways it feels like Aaron Sorkin wrote it, with the behind-the-scenes look at the 19th century political process, the selection of cultural and intellectual references, the layered, complex dialogue, and the soapbox speeches. But I'm a big fan of Sorkin, so I really dug it.

DDL is great, but it's not a very showy, Oscar-baiting performance, and I don't think he'll win for it. It is a very measured and complex role, and he really holds the film together just as Lincoln held the country together; in that sense, it's the perfect performance for this type of film. Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones get most of the histrionics, which should bode well for them come awards season. I also loved James Spader and his awesome moustache.

It's probably not the film we all were expecting when this was first announced, but it's perhaps even more fascinating and complicated than that one would've been. This is not an epic, decades-spanning look at the life of arguably the greatest American president, but simply an examination of the brief period from the end of his life when he ended the Civil War and passed the Thirteenth Amendment. I admire its restraint, and while it has its problems (the last few shots that thompsoncory mentioned, and some other stylistic and narrative choices), I do think it's a very accomplished and affecting work.

It's also especially topical now that Obama's been re-elected. I feel like that will certainly help its box office take and Oscar chances.

do we hear Sic Semper Tyranis?

Very good movie. Great performances all around. My biggest complaint is that there were too many moments of levity considering the seriousness of what was happening.

A-

A big, bold, exhausting, and fascinating American film. Both Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg are in top form here, and both, in my estimation, surprise in their response to this most iconic, even mythic subject. Authentic to the core, Day-Lewis creates an amusing, melancholic, quiet, and perceptive Lincoln. He plays America's greatest president as a flawed, but noble man, not as a pious or romantic monument. And Spielberg does not turn Lincoln into a sentimental, patriotic epic. Instead, he and playwright/screenwriter Tony Kushner (Angels in America, Munich) zero in on conversations, personalities, and the moment to moment tension of the political arena in a time of crisis. At times, the film plays as a serious 19th-century variation on In the Loop and its memorable depiction of political gamesmanship. Yes, this is an earnest, dialogue driven, dead serious, 145-minute political drama. It requires care, dedication, and trust from the viewer, and it is not always pure and delightful entertainment, nor should it be. And, in a bit of a Spielberg tradition, the natural and most moving final shot comes around five to ten minutes before the director decides he has wound his way to the actual ending. On the whole, though, Lincoln is a fine, fine achievement, one both Day-Lewis and Spielberg can be proud of and will be rewarded for.

A-

No. It shows 12-year-old Tad Lincoln watching an adventure play at another D.C. theatre when the shooting is announced, then it cuts to a doctor attending to Lincoln in a bloodied bed and declaring him dead. Then it cuts to Lincoln delivering a speech in the past before fading to the credits.

Honestly, I would have cut these scenes. They feel anticlimactic and halfhearted in an otherwise specific and triumphant film.

I thought for sure we would see Abe get it after this picture was released (though he is in the wrong chair). But, they had to include it.



I hope there are no sick jokes in it; like in THIRTEEN DAYS when Kevin costners character tells JFK "now nothing can stop us in 64"...poor taste.

Oh. This was absolutely spectacular. Spielberg and Kushner defy the conventions of the "biopic," instead presenting this living, breathing portrait of the man Lincoln was. We only take a glimpse of one month into his life, but I came away from this film knowing like I felt I knew about his ideals, his character, his role as a leader. The dialogue (and yes, there is A LOT of it) just crackles with energy, and Kushner should be seriously commended on his adaptation here. Daniel Day-Lewis is typically regarded as the most talented actor currently working; his astonishing performance here does nothing to change that. Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones are also tremendous in juicy supporting roles. Uncharacteristic of Spielberg, there's very little inherent emotional manipulation, but the film's power is so resonant today (I couldn't help but compare this film's events to the election we just had) that it's emotional anyway. It's Spielberg's best movie since Saving Private Ryan and just an absolutely terrific endeavor. A

It's a dense film packed with great faces and words. My favorite part is when someone bellows in dismay at Lincoln telling yet another story.

B+

Really, really great. DDL and Spielberg obviously do spectacular work here but I personally thought Tommy Lee Jones stole the show and hopefully he gets the awards attention he deserves.

I saw it today and thought it was brilliant. DDL did a wonderful job and I loved the humor given to him. Tommy Lee Jones comes close to stealing the film. He was amazing and I think will probably win his second Oscar. Sally Field, James Spader, and David Strathairn also have great performances. And I agree the script is brilliant, especially the sequence with how they got the votes. I give it an A and see it as the favorite to win best picture.

Probably the parts of the film I loved the most were the House of Representatives scenes. The chaos captured in them were wonderfully captured and even though we know how the vote goes, the tension created by the day of the vote was excellent.

I felt it was a tad slight given the length. I'm also not sure it does Lincoln justice.

There's not enough context behind how each vote is procured. The film sort of assumes the Republicans and 20 (er, 18) Democrats were aligned emotionally behind an issue and just needed confirmation they weren't alone. It almost feels like the film views Thaddeus Stevens' radicalism as the sole barrier to the vote -- an issue that Thaddeus 'tames' mostly himself.

Of course, DDL is fantastic -- every one of his performances is a 'gift' and warrants the price of admission alone.

And, I'm glad I saw it.

Read the book y'all

I liked the movie and all, but given talent involved, disappointed. The movie needs to be titled something other than "Lincoln", because the last thing we get is a biopic. Lincoln is simply the main character of a story abut the passing of the 13th amendment. There are many, many more interesting & untold stories from Lincolns term that could have chosen. A 3 hour film chronicling this, the final months of the war, and the plot to kill Lincoln would have been epic. Epic epic epic. But instead this was a bore.

DDL, Field, Jones, and Stairhern kill it. Stevens and Seyward were very funny. The opening scene with Lincoln casually talking with the black soldiers was good.

DDL and the aforementioned all deserve nominations and possible wins, but best picture? Best director? No. The Dark Knight Rides was much more emotional movie.

Maybe if things were still that way today, people might pay attention. "How can I possibly sit here and argue that all men are created equal, when right in front we have an obviously inferior heart & intellect" Tommy Lee Jones is HILARIOUS.

I found it fascinating to see the parallels between Lincoln and a certain current President.

And as with most movies I see... I love this.

Loved absolutely everything about DDL and Lincoln in this movie. Whenever he was off screen I just wanted him back on. Fascinating look at the guy, while being a restrained movie. Borderline one of the best performances I've seen

I can see the rest of the film fading over time to me as standard Oscar material, but overall, I thought it was excellent. The script is AMAZING. One of the best scripts in years

Wasn't a huge fan of this tbh. I agree that I liked the House of Representatives scenes the most.

LINCOLN

Saw it tonight even though I had the misfortune of missing the first 15 minutes due to a credit card issue. Anyway, I was very pleased with the film. DDL and TLJ were excellent in the film. I loved the debate sequences and the overall look and presentation of the film. The acting was great from the main characters. The moments I found especially touching was the voting on the amendment, Stevens returning home with the Bill itself and Lincoln's death. The dialogue was a joy to actually listen to as well.

Grade - A

Loved it. It's worth it for DDL's performance alone, but this is great stuff. These few months of Lincoln's life are so incredibly portrayed, and yes, despite knowing what was going to happen with the vote, I was almost at the edge of my seat. One of the year's best.

Absolutely loved it. My favorite film of the year. Loved the decision to concentrate on the last four months of his life as it gave the film a much tighter feel. It also had a lot more humors than I expected. Loved all the scenes on the House floor, loved DDL's portrayal of Lincoln, and Tommy Lee Jones gave the best supporting performance I've seen this year. Oh my those dialogues, I could listen to them all day.

It was a fascinating examination, and as a piece of public history, quite education given the obvious liberties. Daniel Day Lewis certainly transformed into Lincoln, and every scene with James Spader stole the show (particularly one scene with a musket). It is certain that Daniel Day-Lewis will win, and he deserves it too.

But I will say, despite how interesting the film may have been, despite how engrossing Lincoln's many monologues may have been, the film as a whole felt like a poetic ramble, and an historical bore to rival Amistad.

But it was better than that film, but for now I am sitting on the border of an A- and a B+

I'm going to go with A- if only for the great acting and the court room scenes, now the question is, did I enjoy it more than the Dark Knight Rises? One is more involving, one is better made, which one is which, only you can decide

A+

An absolute masterclass.