Lincoln

To bring us into the interior world of the tortured soul of a character, in this case one of America's finest presidents, is usually the work of a book. Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," an illuminating historical fiction, more than depicts the legacy left by President Abraham Lincoln (played to a tee by Anglo-Irish actor Daniel Day Lewis).

A cast of characters, from that fateful year 1865, includes Mary Todd Lincoln (played by Sally Field), General Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (in an Oscar worthy performance by Tommy Lee Jones), amid the backdrop served by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, a masterfully spun document to let freedom ring for all, playing center stage to Lincoln, who spends the last four months of his life spinning wheels, hiring hucksters and agonizing over prolonging the bloody Civil War as he crosses party lines in an attempt to get the majority votes needed to free America's slaves.

Lewis embodies the sixteenth president of the United States with finesse, homespun humor and tenderness tempered with the power of his position. While Congress argues over the new amendment, Lincoln thumbs through a natural science encyclopedia with his youngest son, Tad, and when he's up all hours of the night, the troubled leader floats through the White House like a ghost, waking administrative assistants to send messages to the war field.

In a touching scene with his White House helpers, Lincoln questions equality: "Can we choose to be born? Are we fitted to the times we are born into? We begin with equality, that's the origin, isn't it? that's justice. See we've shown that a people can endure awful sacrifice and yet cohere."

Not since "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) or "Gone with the Wind" (1939) has the storied Lincoln so captivated its audience and just as President Woodrow Wilson said of the first film, that it was "like writing history with lightning," this Lincoln, too, is making its mark.

In theatres across the country, "Lincoln" gets a standing ovation, if not for its political plot twists round a lame duck Congress, surely for Lewis' kindred, spirited portrayal of a great man. Don't miss this movie.