With Malice Toward None

I had been looking forward to seeing "Lincoln" for a while, so I made sure to see it on opening weekend.

• Daniel Day-Lewis played Lincoln exactly as I imagined he would be.  This is my favorite role of his.  I guess it helps that this is also my favorite US President.
• That idea of him may have been greatly influenced by "Great Moments With Mister Lincoln" at Disneyland.  When he talked about getting his haircut, I could almost hear the snip of scissors behind my ear, as the soldier getting a photograph taken at the attraction.
• Sally Field plays Mary Todd Lincoln quite sympathetically, and my favorite part is when she's telling off the guy at the Inaugural Ball.
• Tommy Lee!  I loved him in this role, playing a man who has an acerbic personality to go with his solid opinion of slavery and equality.
• Spader!  Wow, there is some great acting in this movie, and James Spader certainly does not disappoint.
• The opening scene, with the guys showing that they memorized the Gettysburg Address, and the other guy finishing up the speech, put tears in my eyes very early in the movie.
• Wow, how the political parties have changed since the days of The Civil War.
• Interesting to see the parallels to this day, especially with the topics of equality (which had me crying at one point during TLJ's speech).
• Liked seeing Lincoln's relationships with his sons, especially the younger one.
• Also loved David Straitharn as William Seward (whom I know chiefly from Alphas on the SyFy channel). 
• Beautiful score by John Williams.
• Oh, so THAT'S why it's smoky!  One of my co-workers was a History major in college, and said that he loved how realistic it looked for that era.  All of the smoke was due to the fact that everyone had wood-burning stoves.
• I liked that the movie showed so much of Lincoln's personality as a father, a husband, and a guy with a sense of humor.

I loved this movie.  I wonder if "A Team of Rivals" is as riveting, and will probably read it someday.