I am not a great man.
Shit, on a good day I'd settle for being called either great or man, let alone both. I get rattled at work. By twelve-year olds. I lose my temper and yell at my son, who means the absolute world to me. And my wife, wait, my pregnant wife!, I mock her like a child (when she's not looking, of course) for even suggesting I'm not keeping up my end of things. And sometimes, I even complain about things. Ugh. It's pathetic.
Now, up until last Thursday, I honestly thought I was getting by, you know, actually contributing to humanity. But after walking out of Spielberg's Lincoln I realized that I was entirely mistaken. I don't know conflict. Hell, I've never even met turmoil. And strife? I'm not even sure that's a word.
I'm a teacher (average, at best), but my knowledge of American history is passable, as it's not my content area. That said, seeing the inner-workings of the American government in the mid-1800's fascinated me. What I thought may have been a bit on the tedious side at 150 minutes, Lincoln turned out to be anything but. Turns out the passing of the 13th Amendment makes for very compelling viewing, even for someone like me (that initially thought otherwise). And while the story is told by a master director in Spielberg, most of the credit is justifiably aimed at the peerless Daniel Day-Lewis. The whole cast is first-rate (well, there's an occasional misstep), but Day-Lewis is undeniably majestic as President Lincoln. I'm still not sure what intrigues me more, the performance as Lincoln, or simply getting to see what Lincoln faced. Either way, I'm chalking it up as a win.
Where things went awry, for me, was any minute of runtime not dedicated to politics. I realize that Lincoln's personal issues make him more human and add to the weight of the burden he carried, but it didn't make them any more interesting to watch. Even with fine actors involved, it all came off a bit schmaltzy. Maybe it was just me, but the sub-plot concerning his wife and eldest son seemed forced. And I'm not even asking for twenty fewer minutes, that's not the issue. Just more politics, maybe even more battlefield action. And more Spader. Definitely.
Shit, on a good day I'd settle for being called either great or man, let alone both. I get rattled at work. By twelve-year olds. I lose my temper and yell at my son, who means the absolute world to me. And my wife, wait, my pregnant wife!, I mock her like a child (when she's not looking, of course) for even suggesting I'm not keeping up my end of things. And sometimes, I even complain about things. Ugh. It's pathetic.
I'm a teacher (average, at best), but my knowledge of American history is passable, as it's not my content area. That said, seeing the inner-workings of the American government in the mid-1800's fascinated me. What I thought may have been a bit on the tedious side at 150 minutes, Lincoln turned out to be anything but. Turns out the passing of the 13th Amendment makes for very compelling viewing, even for someone like me (that initially thought otherwise). And while the story is told by a master director in Spielberg, most of the credit is justifiably aimed at the peerless Daniel Day-Lewis. The whole cast is first-rate (well, there's an occasional misstep), but Day-Lewis is undeniably majestic as President Lincoln. I'm still not sure what intrigues me more, the performance as Lincoln, or simply getting to see what Lincoln faced. Either way, I'm chalking it up as a win.
Where things went awry, for me, was any minute of runtime not dedicated to politics. I realize that Lincoln's personal issues make him more human and add to the weight of the burden he carried, but it didn't make them any more interesting to watch. Even with fine actors involved, it all came off a bit schmaltzy. Maybe it was just me, but the sub-plot concerning his wife and eldest son seemed forced. And I'm not even asking for twenty fewer minutes, that's not the issue. Just more politics, maybe even more battlefield action. And more Spader. Definitely.