Lincoln

LINCOLN (12)
D: Steven Spielberg
Dreamworks/Touchstone/Amblin (Kathleen Kennedy & Steven Spielberg)
US 2012
150 mins

Biopic/Historical

W: Tony Kushner [based on the book "Team Of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin]
DP: Janusz Kaminsky
Ed: Michael Kahn
Mus: John Williams
PD: Rick Carter
Cos: Joanna Johnston

Daniel Day-Lewis (Abraham Lincoln), Tommy Lee Jones (Thaddeus Stevens), Sally Field (Mary Todd Lincoln), James Spader (W. N. Bilbo), Hal Holbrook (Preston Blair), David Strathairn (William H. Seward), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Robert Todd Lincoln)

Fantastic performances from Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field & Tommy Lee Jones carry this movie.
Having a British education, I don't know too much about Lincoln's presidency aside from the Gettysburg address and that his administration proved key in the abolishment of slavery.  
This movie delivers a little bit more on the arguments regarding the abolishment and how the civil war was affecting America but it's very much a schoolbook history movie, trying to cram in as much as possible into its running time, without really saying too much.
Entertainment-wise, it's a long slog of a movie and isn't much more entertaining than watching a live political broadcast from the house of commons.
Steven Spielberg captures the period well with excellent photography, set design, costumes, etc. but, unfortunately, this is never much more than a stolid biopic of a hugely important historical figure.
7/10

Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln