My Writings
Review - Lincoln (continued)
Spielberg avoids over sentimentality, and wisely avoids showing the assassination itself. His only lapse was to show the Tommy Lee Jones character in bed with his black housekeeper, which was unnecessary, historically dubious, and definitely politically incorrect...
Spielberg believes that this film represents his most radical change of direction, but he has always been an actor's director, regardless of his other skills, his imagination and vision. There were few scenes of the war itself, the siege of Fort Steadman from the sea and a scene where Lincoln visits a battlefield strewn with dead bodies, but if you were looking forward to Gettysberg, well you had to do with the Gettysberg address instead. Spielberg, his principal actor, and cast have made a definitive study of the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, which, after all, is what the source material was about.
8/10 An intriguing history