Lincoln (2012)

What a fantabulous film.. I will take good acting over vampire hunting any day. All of the characters in this film were such characters. Even the small roles had enough showing to pick up character foibles and eccentricities that really brought everything alive.
Of course I had heard how great this movie was, but it was always about Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln. He was absolutely fantastic. When I can forget that such a well-known actor is playing the role, I think that is a sign that they're doing something very right. But, I was not prepared for very strong showing by Sally Field, David Stratairn and Tonny Lee Jones. I expect these three actors to do a good job, just as I expect Day-Lewis to do a good job, but they all really stepped it up a notch. But maybe The Amazing Spiderman, Alphas and Men In Black 3, respectively, are not the most dramatic of vehicles to show off their fine acting abilities. These four actors were essential to this movie's success and set the bar very high for the rest of the cast.
I loved seeing Hal Holbrook in period costume. He somehow looks more appropriate dressed as a gentleman from the nineteenth century than in contemporary clothes. Perhaps that is because the first thing I recall seeing him in he was dressed as Mark Twain, or perhaps he is drawn to those roles because they somehow fit him best. He is looking as old as ever, which is to say not a bit older than he did twenty years ago.
It seems hard to believe that there was ever a time when long beards were the norm de rigeur, but it warms the cockles of my heart to see so many whiskers. I am glad that no one has suggested recently that those of us with beards shave off our mustaches, as I've never liked that look and doing it would not only feel funny, but make me look funnier than I already am. It is interesting that so many of the young men were sporting mustaches, like Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the President's son, Robert Lincoln, as well as James Spader as Mr. Bilbo. I wonder if there wasn't a sort of generational rebellion going on? Probably yes and probably no. I suspect that like now, it was largely a matter of fashion more than anything else.

Lincoln on IMDb