Movie Review: Lincoln

Growing up in Illinois and loving history, I developed a strong admiration for Abraham Lincoln as a child.

I wrote an 80-page report on him in 6th grade with proper footnotes and citations, because that's what I do. I read a good chunk of the Lincoln-Douglas debates -- from a worn and musty volume published about this time last century and passed down from my grandfather -- trying to hear Lincoln's voice. I stared at Lincoln's photos stretching my mind to imagine what it was about him that commanded such reverence, from one side at least. More than a handful of Civil War-era courses in college rounded out the formal education.

Still, nothing prepared me for the awesomeness of seeing Daniel Day Lewis on the big screen made up to look like the President, affecting that slight Kentucky twang, and showing just a bit of the angst the real Lincoln must have felt watching his union being torn in two.

It takes quite a bit for me to get lost in a 2-D performance. Lewis as Lincoln was the epitome of right-place-right-time casting. Don't miss it.