Movie Review: Lincoln

We went to see the movie Lincoln, a Steven Spielberg film, over the holidays. The movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln, Sally Fields as Mary Todd Lincoln, Hal Holbrook as Lincoln adviser Preston Blair, James Spader as political operative W.N. Bilbo and Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens.

Of course I have to give props to the writers. Tony Kushner's screenplay was tremendous, and was partly based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Most of the movie takes place in January 1865, just after Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president. It was during this time that Lincoln focused on pushing the 13^th Amendment through congress, thereby ending the Civil War and slavery, and uniting the nation.

My favorite thing about this movie: Lincoln’s love of words and storytelling, and how it all sounded coming out of Daniel Day-Lewis’ mouth. Brilliant. Abraham Lincoln often told awkward jokes, went on random tangents, quoted Euclid and the Bible and any other source that gave evidence to the lesson he was offering. 


Daniel Day-Lewis, who normally communicates in a deep baritone, used a high-pitched, reedy tenor voice in the film. Historical sources indicate that this timbre is close to the way Lincoln actually spoke. There were plenty of rambling monologues in the script and Day-Lewis kept my husband and I captivated with this soft, homey cadence.

The language and the delivery were magnificent.

Steven Spielberg did a remarkable job with his depiction of our 16^th president. This is one of the most authentic biographical movies I’ve ever seen.

If you love lyrical words masterfully woven together by some of the finest actors and actresses working, then I recommend this movie. If you love action-packed thrillers with car chases and exploding airplanes, then I do not recommend this movie.

Let me know what you thought of the movie.

Movie Review: Larry Crowne

Going to a matinee movie is an obvious choice when it's 100+ F outside with 100+ humidity. So the husband and I set off to see what seemed like another obvious choice—the Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts new release, Larry Crowne.

The trailers looked cute, and a lighthearted rom-com starring Hanks and Roberts promised to be a perfect way to escape the oppressive Charleston heat. The premise seemed interesting, with enough realism to give it some teeth. We were in.

The storyline: Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) is a friendly, hardworking big-box company employee. He's unceremoniously canned because he went into the Navy after high-school instead of going to college, so now he's hit the ceiling at the company. He isn't promotable. Bye.

In financial straights and without purpose, Crowne enrolls in the local community college. There he hooks up with a cast of characters who take him under their social wing. With his new friends' help, he slowly begins to emerge from the defeat of being downsized. In his public-speaking class, Larry falls for his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts). Her life is as messy as Crowne's, for different reasons. Let the story unfold...

See, I told you the premise seemed interesting. Add to it the fact that Tom Hanks wrote the screenplay with the funny Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). He also directed the film. We were sure Larry Crowne would, at the very least, be entertaining.

It's like the movie never started. Although Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are nice to watch, it felt like nothing happened. The movie didn't go anywhere. It was bland.

I hope I'm not getting so accustomed to invisibility cloaks, blood drinking boyfriends and ancient struggles between extraterrestrial clans to enjoy a plot-and-character based flick, but I don't think that's the problem. There were cute scenes, fun cameos and a few witty exchanges. It wasn't a terrible way to pass the time but, if you came here looking for an honest opinion then I'll give it to you... the movie was boring.

Have you seen Larry Crowne? I'd love to hear your opinions. 

Larry Crowne trailer: