Movie Review

Student 2

POL 1011

Movie Review: Lincoln

The plot of Lincoln takes place in 1865 during the dregs of the American Civil War.

Peace has become a waiting game instead of a bloody battle, but the end of the war has brought

forth a new problem for President Abraham Lincoln as played by Daniel Day-Lewis. He fears

that the Emancipation Proclamation, signed in 1863, will be undone once the Confederacy

surrenders. Lincoln enters a race against time to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which will

abolish slavery, effectively preserving the freedom of former black slaves. The movie primarily

focuses on the conflict within the House of Representatives and Lincoln’s own cabinet. Further,

it captures the feud between Democrats and Republicans and radical Republicans versus

conservative Republicans.

One of the earliest points within the film that I found to relate to the text was

Lincoln’s assertion of his powers as president (p. 172–174). He states, “I decided that the

Constitution gives me war powers,” and “I decided I needed them to exist to uphold my oath to

the Constitution.” Lincoln takes advantage of his powers to confiscate slaves from the South,

which is legal only because slaves were viewed as property, and emancipate them in the North.

The legality of this is admittedly slippery due to the status of the South, which leads into the next

point from the textbook covered in the movie: types of government and leadership (p.

170).

In a later scene, Lee Pace’s character, Fernando Wood, a Democratic Congressman from

New York, launches into a diatribe against Lincoln’s perceived abuse of these powers. He

berates Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus, free press, and states’ rights, and this relates back

to the text’s example of Lincoln serving as a constitutional dictator during the Civil War. The

movie focuses largely on the democratic process. For instance, one of the main points of

conflict is trying to secure two-thirds of the House members to vote in favor of the Thirteenth

Amendment.

Lastly, an overarching, yet underlying theme throughout the movie, is the debate over

civil rights (p. 84). One Congressman in the film did not want to vote in favor of the Thirteenth

Amendment because he did not believe that black people should be emancipation. Further, he

argued that it would eventually lead to women being granted the right to vote. Some members

of Congress were only open to the Thirteenth Amendment after a civil rights advocate stated that

the amendment would “only make black people equal before the law, not equal in actuality.”

This alludes to the Jim Crowe era that is also discussed in the textbook. In the final act of the

film, progress is made toward equality with the Fourteenth Amendment being discussed.

However, Lincoln is assassinated before he sees black men being secure the right to vote.

Overall, I would give this movie 4.5 out of 5 popcorn bowls. If I were being completely

biased I would give it 5 out of 5 popcorn bowls, but I am docking it a half point only because the

film is not completely accurate. After all, while Lincoln was opposed slavery, he was known to

be ambivalent towards it on a legal basis and his main goal during the Civil War was the

restoration of the Union. Otherwise, it is a very good film, and I believe Daniel

Day-Lewis portrayed Lincoln extremely well.