Lincoln (2012) - 9 stars out of 10

Lincoln (2012) - 9 stars out of 10
Oscar Week/President's Day

"Lincoln" is just one of those films that recreates history before our very eyes through stunning acting performances and dialogue that captures the significance of the portrayed events.  This film is almost as historically accurate as "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" (kidding)!  While historians have been quick to nitpick about small details, this script comprehensively weaves together the final four months of Lincoln's life and shows the historic struggles to pass the Thirteenth Amendment.  The writers managed to work in some comedic moments through James Spader (perfectly cast as W.N. Bilbo) amidst a lot of political discussion.  The most impressive part of the script are the passionate monologues delivered by Daniel Day-Lewis.  This film is all about Day-Lewis, who you would swear is actually Abe Lincoln incarnate.  He looks exactly like him and the accent is perfection.  He shows the human side of the typically meek Lincoln and I knew that he was a shoe-in for the Best Actor Oscar when he delivered his speech about being the most powerful man in the country.  Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones also earned Oscar nominations and they were good, but outside of Field's sarcastic reception line speech and emotional speech about her son, I did not see the Oscar caliber in these "good" performances.  Aside from Day-Lewis, it is difficult to focus on any other individuals because there is an overwhelming plethora of characters in this film, but as an ensemble the entire cast provides the emotions to get across the levity of these historic events.  Add in a nice score by John Williams and dozens of interesting visual shots by director Steven Spielberg and you have a well-rounded film.  "Lincoln" is an incredible film from start to finish and in spite of a few slow parts, only one thing matters: Abraham Lincoln has been portrayed by many actors but this is and always will be the greatest depiction.