Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln: Cardboard Re-enactment of American History

The new trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln was released yesterday. With Daniel Day Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln in one of the most important periods of American history, there’s little doubt this movie is aiming for Oscars. But how is it shaping up?

The biggest problem about the trailer and what we’ve seen so far from Abraham Lincoln is that it appears too . . . obvious. From Daniel Day Lewis’ take on Abraham Lincoln himself—which lacks energy, vitality and vigour—to the directing (it’s shot like a flowchart of Hollywood drama) everything lacks originality, energy an enthusiasm.

Daniel Day Lewis does nothing to really bring Abraham Lincoln to life. He comes across more as Daniel Day Lewis than as Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln—one of the bravest, boldest and most passionate men in American history—sounds frankly mundane.

The story shows no hint of diving deep into the reality of Abraham Lincoln as a real, living, breathing human being. He’s more a history book character than a man here. We’ve read and watched this sort of take on Lincoln before. What the movie needs is reality, grit and rawness. It needs to take the history books and give it blood and guts. So far, Abraham Lincoln has yet to show that it’s willing to do that. But as usual, time will tell.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSAbAuLhqs