Finally saw Lincoln last night. As a huge history buff, and someone who has no problem with slow or dialogue-driven movies, I am surprised to say that I found this to be one of the biggest disappointments of the year. Quite frankly, I was bored out of my mind, and I read history books for fun! I found myself repeatedly losing interest in a movie that is about something I find incredibly interesting.
There were also way too many big names in it, even for minor characters...I found that to be a major distraction. For the first half hour, instead of noticing the character, I kept thinking "where have I seen that actor before?" Only Day-Lewis truly disappeared into the role of Lincoln (he was a lone bright spot in an otherwise dull and meandering movie).
Just saw it last week. I thought good, not great.
The story was intriguing enough for me and Lewis as Lincoln compelling enough to keep me interested. Despite the high quality of his performance I couldn't help thinking that Lincoln (in this portrayal) was too good to be true. Folksy, brilliant, sensitive -- deep and light, focused and daffy, all at once. They worked hard at portraying him as uniquely great man. Almost too great.
The most real part of the character, I suspect, was the palpable exhaustion you could see in him. The pervasive weariness I don't doubt, but makes his greatness -- including his capacity to keep steady and heady under extreme pressure from work and family seemed a bit too much to believe. I ended the movie feeling that the biggest tragedy of his death was that the guy would never be able to sleep in on the weekend.