Movie Review - Lincoln

My friend Trish and I made the one hour trip north to see Lincoln, as it was not on at our local theatre and we were not sure when it would be, and we both wanted to see it.  Plus it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the drive, with the lake sparkling and the sky blue and the land covered with snow.
We were not disappointed that we had made the trip. How could it be anything less than good with Daniel Day-Lewis playing Lincoln (another Oscar nod I'm sure) and Steven Spielberg directing.
This movie is informative about the last months of Lincoln's life. How he was balancing the ending of the war with his desire to see the constitution changed to end slavery. All the players, especially noted Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, who puts aside his own agenda to ensure the legislation goes through. It was done brilliantly and we all breathed a sigh of relief when he contained himself. I especially enjoyed James Spader as the wild W.N. Bilbo, one of the beginning lobbyists. It really looked like the beginning, but a reference was made to something occurring previously so I can't say for sure the first lobbyists, but you begin to see where they have played a part in American Political History.
Politics is often viewed by the non political as being sly, sometimes less than honest, and feeling there is a second agenda. This movie, in its subtly, certainly does not dispel this illusion.
I have to mention Sally Field (25 lbs heavier) as Mary Todd Lincoln. She plays it well, but mostly as a woman, I loved the dresses she wore. Often I was more caught up with her dress than her words (acted wonderfully I might add). I found myself thinking afterwards, how on earth did those women visit the lady's room. Probably didn't, so here is this great movie of historical importance, acted and directed wonderfully well and I'm thinking, dresses, washrooms and cold....the heating of those places in those days was by fireplace and they don't really warm the room well at all (I know I grew up with that).
If you like history. If you want to see how Lincoln must have appeared to others, if you want to see some beautiful dresses, and most of all great acting, then go see Lincoln. I learned quite a bit about what was happening during that time and feel sad, as many do, that Lincoln did not stay alive for the reconstruction of the south. We all know what happened there without him at the helm.
This movie is definitely worth seeing, 4 out of 5.