Lincoln~~Spoilers

Today I went to see Lincoln and left wanting to see it again to see what I missed and just to see the performances again.

Daniel Day-Lewis played Abraham Lincoln, newly elected for his 2nd term and 4 years into an ugly Civil War.  He is a man of conscience who wants an amendment to the Constitution outlawing slavery before the war ends.  He has already given the Emancipation Proclamation but worries it will not hold up if there is no amendment.  He has a timeline to get this done..certainly before the war ends and the southern states are recognized again.  Surely an amendment then would be defeated.   And he thinks his chances for passage are better with lame duck congressmen who have nothing to be accountable for in their districts.  His Secretary of State William Seward (the ever stellar David Strathairn) hires a team of what would now be lobbyists to secure votes.  He allows a Republican leader to go to Virginia to discuss peace with the rebels (Hal Holbrook) but again, needs the war to go on to get the amendment passed.  There is the ethical question,
how to decide which is better:  To let the war end and freedom for the slaves be delayed for God knows how long or let the war continue longer with soldiers dying and freeing the slaves now.  It's a tough choice and one of Lincoln's advisers tells him he has aged terribly over the last year.  It has to be a decision that tears a man apart and ages him quickly.    We all know the history but the debates and politics are amazing to watch anyway.  At the vote, the Speaker of the House wants to vote and the clerk says it's allowed but unusual.  The Speaker replies that this is not usual.  It's history.

Tommy Lee Jones is amazing as Thaddeus Stevens, a Republican congressman, who stands by Lincoln's side for not entirely unselfish reasons.  Sally Field is Mary Todd Lincoln, a protective mother and wife, not as popular as her husband and whose grief has taken her to some dark places.  Her problems wear on her husband too.

As he normally does, Stephen Spielberg takes a story and runs with it, getting the best performances out of his actors and writers.  I don't know who will win awards but Sally Field should be at least nominated along side Anne Hatheway, the front runner for Supporting Actress.  They won't allow the former Flying Nun to win a 3rd Oscar after winning everyone she was ever nominated for, bu I think she deserves it.