Oscars 2013: Ranking This Year's Best Pictures
5. Lincoln
Initial Impression: Ever since I was a child, I've been a Spielberg aficionado: the way he tells a story and the way he uses emotions in his film have almost always helped me enjoy his films (Munich being a glaring example to the counter). Indeed, "The Beard", as he's affectionately referred by, knows his way around a good yarn, and he especially has proven himself to be a student and fan of history. This film already had two strikes against it: 1.) It took so long to make its lead, Liam Neeson, dropped out before production. 2.) It was another Tony Kushner pairing, and since Munich was the last story they worked together on, it seemed like a red flag. Of course, when it did go into production, it did so with great force and speed, casting a veritable who's who of actors from past and present glory. And with Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field at the helm, one could expect nothing but greatness. The Verdict: Let's just put it out there that Spielberg is a sentimental man. His films, at their worst, can devolve into films that put too fine a point on emotion vs. action. (His sex scene inter-cut with remembrances of the murdered athletes in Munich was probably one of the most awkward things ever in his career. And this was after 1941!) At his worst, he'll hammer you over the head just as much as some of these other filmmakers will, and he did seem like he was going to almost do that here. Even in the ending, when we see Lincoln's visage in the flame of a lamplight, with him recently dying from his gunshot wounds, Spielberg was close to pushing it with what was already a partially dry film. And yet, it still managed to be entertaining and engaging in some ways. The political wrangling that went on behind the scenes was interesting enough for a film on its own, but what was also interesting was the portrait of Lincoln the married man. His spats with Mary Todd (Molly) Lincoln look like the antithesis of the man we've all come to know and learn about in this modern age. Lincoln came off as a man, not a spartan of virtue and temperance. The film balanced those two components rather well, and yes, Tommy Lee Jones probably stole this film from Daniel Day Lewis with his portrayal of Thaddeus Stevens. If anything, the film should have retained the title "Team of Rivals", as it was more of an ensemble piece than a showcase for Daniel Day Lewis, who does a fine job in this film with the uneasy task of bringing a historical figure to life, without dipping too much into the well of sentimental memory. John Hawkes, James Spader, and Tim Blake Nelson make the film entertaining; Day-Lewis makes it dramatic, and Sally Field, along with Tommy Lee Jones, make it emotional. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good history flick.