Lincoln

On Monday I watched Spielberg’s “Lincoln”. Daniel Day-Lewis deserves all the accolades that come his way; wow, what a performance. As to the movie as a whole: I think it carries itself well enough to appeal to a general audience, but you need to be a history nut to properly relish it. After all, a movie about the passing of a constitutional amendment is not a shoot em up, and at times even I was a little “speed it up pardner”. What it does well – exceptionally well – is highlight Lincoln’s genius, his ideal combination of idealism and practicality, velvet glove and iron fist. Even as he argues for a gentle reconciliation, he exposes Civil War South and its apologists for what they were: the enslavers of an entire people, willing to betray oath and nation to protect their wealth - at enormous loss of life - under the masquerade of “state’s rights”. Grade: A