Movie Review: Killing Lincoln (2013)

Some people were expecting the worst from National Geographic’s Killing Lincoln, for two reasons: Bill O’Reilly’s book of the same title was littered with inaccuracies, and the production team of Ridley and Tony Scott, along with director Adrian Moat, recently produced one of the most inept and historically insulting documentaries ever made, Gettysburg, back in 2011. Hosted and narrated by Tom Hanks, this is a docudrama which surpasses Gettysburg, distances itself slightly from the book, yet at the same time, does not adequately deliver the entertainment one would expect here, which I will address later. Billy Campbell, whose other Civil War-era film, Copperhead, is slated to be released in June, does a decent job as President Abraham Lincoln. It would be absolutely unfair to compare him to Daniel Day-Lewis, so on his own he is fine. The performance is very calm, quiet, and subdued and I have no problem with the voice he used, which is not accurately high-pitched, but also is not the typical Hollywood deep voice we have heard over the years. The production team used Campbell and his talents as best as they could. However, considering that this film is about killing Lincoln, and Lincoln dies just after the midway point, it did leave a lot to be desired.

Two Month Countdown to the Premiere of “Lincoln”

We are now exactly two months away from the premiere of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (excited yet?), and I just wanted to give my thoughts on a few things below:

The Voice of Daniel Day-Lewis

If you browse the film message boards, namely IMDb’s, you will find that there are quite a lot of people disappointed at the voice/accent Day-Lewis is using to portray Abraham Lincoln, citing it as too high-pitched and not deep enough. The reason for these attacks (there seem to be quite a few people who have too much time on their hands) is because people are used to seeing our 16th president presented with a deep, raspy voice, much like what Gregory Peck did for him in The Blue and the Gray, and to a lesser extent, Lance Henriksen in The Day Lincoln was Shot, one of my favorites. However, if you do your historical research, you will learn that Lincoln’s voice was actually the opposite of how Hollywood has shown over the years. It was a “high and shrill” voice that had a kind of country-bumpkin twang to it. People in his time were originally caught off-guard by it, expecting a man of his size to sound differently, but by all reports, his voice quickly grew on the crowd, especially during speeches. I think the only actor to come close to getting it right prior to this was Sam Waterston, who starred in Gore Vidal’s 1988 made-for-TV vision of the same name as this one. It must have been very difficult for Day-Lewis to continuously use this accent, as he is a method actor who remains in character the entire time he is on set, but that is what separates him from the rest. He is one of the best actors of our time for a reason.

April 15: An Important Date for History…and Tragedy

Though never forgotten, year after year, the anniversary of the RMS Titanic sinking passes without much more than an article buried in the back of your local newspaper, or maybe an internet posting from someone with a video clip of one of the myriad of films made about the worst maritime disaster in history. This year, however, as we commemorate the 100th anniversary, television specials and magazine editorials are coming with much-deserved regularity. The Titanic has always had a place in our hearts, as many tragedies do, because they illustrate moments in our history where something unexpected struck an innocent victim, or in Her case, more than 1,500 souls. Our history is rooted in tragedies and what-if scenarios. The calendar date of April 15 has two of these: the aforementioned Titanic, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, and you can expect that in 2015, Lincoln will get the same treatment from the media, as it will be the ultra important 150th anniversary of the murder that shook America to its core.

Two Civil War Movies You Need to Add to Your Collection

Just like I waited many years for a Gods and Generals Director’s Cut, I have waited just as long for two other Civil War movies to be released to DVD. Though I would check online every once in a while, they were never available. The two films I am talking about were made-for-television in the late 90′s, both for TNT, titled The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998) and The Hunley (1999). Both of these films, along with frequent showings Gettysburg, made Ted Turner’s television network one of the go-to places for movies about the War Between the States, and no doubt contributed to my love of the conflict that I have today. Once upon a time ago, I had both of these films recorded off of TV onto VHS tapes, but as time passed, the two movies slipped into oblivion, and have not been located for at least six or seven years; they will never be found in my house, most likely taped over many moons ago.

However, with my latest search today, I discovered that both movies were released by Warner Brothers in March, and are available via their website and other online outlets. On Ebay and Amazon, they generally go for more than $25, but if you buy from WB directly, they are $19.95. I have spent a lot of money on movies lately, and with my trip to Manassas coming up to cover the Gods and Generals film premiere, I may have to wait on purchasing these for a little while, but I would like to have them by September for when I start teaching my course on the Civil War. This is just a shout-out and heads-up to those who have watched these movies, and have been looking for them, eagerly, like I have.

The Day Lincoln Was Shot was my favorite of the two, and starred Lance Henriksen as Abraham Lincoln and Rob Morrow as John Wilkes Booth. From what I remember, and this was quite some time ago, both were amazing in their roles, especially Henriksen, who still stands out to me today as the best Lincoln portrayal I have ever seen. The latter of the two, The Hunley, was also memorable, as it detailed the ill-fated first submarine mission in America, when Armand Assante, who plays a Confederate named Captain Dixon, tries to sink a Union ship in the blockade of Charleston Harbor. Donald Sutherland also makes an appearance, as well as one of my favorite character actors Sebastien Roche.

These are two films you do not want to miss!

Spielberg to Cast Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Upcoming Film

I had been keeping tabs on this film project for the past few years, a project that has since disappeared from the “announced” and “in pre-production” stages on IMDB, even with director Steven Spielberg’s recent announcement that Daniel Day-Lewis would portray Abraham Lincoln in a biopic about our sixteenth president, based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, Team of Rivals. At one time it was rumored that Liam Neeson was to play Lincoln, and even though Neeson is one of my favorite actors, Day-Lewis will no doubt play a better role, as very few actors get so into their character as he does.

The next five years have the potential to be very exciting for the film industry as we will most likely see a boost in Civil War and related movies due to the event’s 150th anniversary, which will be commemorated from 2011-2015. There is already rumor of a six-hour director’s cut for Gods and Generals to be released, and that is sure to be the first of many with such a theme.

As a Civil War buff, I do not agree with Lincoln’s politics at all. Personally, I believe some of his decisions were borderline tyrannical, such as suspending Habeas Corpus and sending the army to the houses of certain Maryland delegates to ensure the state would not vote to secede with the Union. He also could have taken different routes to see that a war did not break out, a war costing America over 600,000 lives. Nevertheless, I believe Lincoln and his presidency are fascinating, and I have always admired him as a husband and father; a man who lost two children at such a young age, and someone who had to deal with Mary Todd, who was on the brink of insanity during her stay in the White House.

Knowing Spielberg and his direction, I have no doubt that this film will be an epic, I just hope that it concentrates more on Lincoln’s time during the Civil War, and less on his life prior, as it is not as exciting or important.

Henriksen as Lincoln.

Many actors have portrayed Lincoln in the past, including my favorite depiction which was Lance Henriksen in The Day Lincoln was Shot. This film was made for TNT (which has produced a slew of Civil War movies) and starred Rob Morrow as well, who played John Wilkes Booth. The film was fantastic, showing the final 24 hours of Lincoln’s life, leading up to his assassination and the capture of Booth. The movie is worthy of a DVD release, but we have yet to see one, and the VHS copy I had of it when I taped it off of TV in 1998 has long since been lost.

The most famous portrayal of Lincoln may belong to Sam Waterston, who played the titular role in Gore Vidal’s Lincoln. This movie was alright, but I have to agree with my history professor’s summation, when he said that Vidal paints Lincoln out to be Jesus Christ. I also felt the film ended much too abruptly after the assassination, especially after being built up so much throughout. Gregory Peck also played Lincoln in a small appearance in the 1982 miniseries, The Blue and the Gray. Though I have not seen it in years, his character still stands out to me, as Peck was one of the greatest actors in the history of film.

We will now anxiously await more details of this upcoming film, such as the storyline and supporting actors, and I can only hope more films with similar themes will spring up, prompting more awareness of the most important event in our nation’s history.