Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

sfield-34975 Saving Lincoln (2013) is a film which I had mixed feelings about watching. Watching the trailer, I was both intrigued and puzzled with some of the directions the film took. Having just watched Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2013) I had much lower expectations for this film. Yet, having invested my time in learning more about Lincoln over the last couple of months, I found it necessary to watch and see what the creators had in mind for this 2013 film. Suffice to say the film surpassed my expectations. Saving Lincoln tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's friend and bodyguard Marshall Ward Hill Lamon, the man who left his post at Ford's Theatre which ultimately led to Lincoln's demise. While nowhere close to Daniel Day Lewis's portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, Tom Amandes' portrayal of Lincoln incorporates much of the cleverness, compassion, humor and charm of the real-life Lincoln and does just enough to be believable. Other than Lincoln, Lea Coco's portrayal of Lincoln's friend Lamon is an interesting aspect which has never been focused on as much in past films. Aside from the acting the movie's cinematography is also an intriguing aspect of the film. The movie is filmed in a black and white background which is supposed to convey a historic feeling to the movie but is mostly hit or miss. At times the green screen look of the movie can seem cheap or cheesy, but at other times the style works surprisingly well as it shows real pictures from the civil war era which brings an interesting characteristic to the film. The films story itself incorporates a lot of historical accuracy of the era. Although the film is accurate for a lot of the movie, I did feel as though it tried too hard to list off every important event during the Civil war era of Lincoln's presidency without much depth. Overall, while the movie was better that I expected it is not a movie I would rave about to friends but it is worth a watch if you are even remotely interested in Lincoln.

elizamancecc The movie showed Lincoln's life and his struggles from a very different point of view. You see it from the point of view of Lincoln's good friend Ward Hill Lamon. The movie shows the risks taken by Lincoln during his everyday life because of the threats of assassination. Although Lincoln continued to take these risks, his bodyguard and close friend Lamon kept doing everything in his power to protect Lincoln from all possible threats. The film was done in a very unique way with actual pictures from this time period being used as the background. I enjoyed learning about Lincoln and his life from the perspective of Lamon, which is different from the way you would traditionally learn about Lincoln.

Ctchung4 I enjoyed the film for its portrayal of President Abraham Lincoln from the perspective of his confidant, Ward Lamon Hill, and the use of the photographs from the Civil War era. The scenes tended to play out so fast that it would at first seem improbable to develop sympathy for the characters, but it turned out that it was not at all the case. I felt that there were many shining moments in the film, especially when you got pulled in by the emotionally captivating speech at the end of the seance. It was probably tough to try to cram President Lincoln's life into a duration of less than 2 hours, but I loved the music and that it was, well, different.President Lincoln has been my favorite historical figure, and I learned so much more about him from watching this film.

Al Lewis I was moved by this film. As someone who has lived in the DC area my entire life, has visited Ford's Theater on numerous occasions, and has been to Gettysburg, Antietam, and other civil war battlefields more times than I can remember, I felt that seeing Tom Amandes' portrayal of Lincoln this evening brought me closer to understanding Lincoln the man than I have ever been. Amandes' Lincoln was not overplayed, but real and genuine. Litvak was bold in creating his Lincoln as a man of faith and emotion, natural charisma and strength. Lincoln's melancholy made him more endearing, not distant. Penelope Ann Miller's Mary Todd was also genuine, a person of real emotion, not the disconnected and distant caricature that she has been portrayed in previous films. Lea Coco was masterful in walking the line between obsessive, monomaniacal protector and best friend of the most indispensable man of his time. No spoiler here, but Coco's finest hour came towards the end of the film in my opinion, when he as Lamon visibly let down his guard for the first time, no longer able to protect his friend. What an amazing piece of art this film is. Seeing the actual images of Civil War soldiers in the hospital behind Lincoln in one scene tapped an emotional well in me as I realized that these were real people, real faces of the men who fought and died for their country, and for this I must say that the Cinecollage method that Litvak has brought to life is a treasure that is capable of connecting us with our history in a way that is unique and of deep value. I applaud the creator and cast for the wonderful film and eagerly await the opportunity to see it again.