Movie Review: 'Lincoln' May Be Among the Finest American Political Films Ever Made

Portraying the iconic Abraham Lincoln is English-Irishman Daniel Day-Lewis, in what many are calling an Oscar-winning performance. The cast also includes Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, a staunch abolitionist and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward. In “Lincoln,” director Steven Spielberg presents the political process that let to the passage of the 13th Amendment, just weeks before the President was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre. 

Here’s what the critics are saying:

To say that this is among the finest films ever made about American politics may be to congratulate it for clearing a fairly low bar. Some of the movie’s virtues are, at first glance, modest ones, like those of its hero, who is pleased to present himself as a simple backwoods lawyer, even as his folksy mannerisms mask a formidable and cunning political mind. A.O. Scott, the New York Times

The heart of the story is the president's unyielding push to pass the 13th amendment and ensure the freedom accorded by the Emancipation Proclamation. Day-Lewis is equally unwilling to compromise, burying himself so deeply in Lincoln that the true spirit of that long-ago leader rises with such passion and purity that it is humbling to watch. Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

Yes, our 16th president belongs to the ages in the sense that is he's an iconic, larger-than-life figure. (Plus -- all those pennies.) But "Lincoln" builds a convincing case that there's much more to it than that. Honest Abe belongs to the ages in that his wisdom, his conviction and his notable legacy live on as strongly today as the day he died in 1865 -- and that we, as a nation currently crippled by a particularly ugly strain of partisanship, can still learn valuable lessons from him. Mike Scott, NOLA.com

Lincoln is rated PG-13 and runs 2 hours. 

Ready to see "Lincoln"? Head to Hamilton Mill Great Escape 14, 2160 Hamilton Creek Parkway. For more theater information, showtimes and pricing, click here or call 678-482-0624. Click here for Regal Mall of Georgia showtimes.

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