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"This is not a Lincoln that's just stepped off the dollar bill or just arisen from the Lincoln Monument. This is not the icon or the hero and he's not the joke of the old 'Honest Abe' nonsense. This is a real man, and I don't think Lincoln has ever been done as well."
Tommy Lee Jones on Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, the Steven Spielberg movie based on a portion of Doris Kearns Goodwin's bestselling Team of Rivals.
LINCOLN doesn't come out until November 6th but early word is coming out. Hollywood Reporter reviewer Scott Feinberg saw a sneak screening of LINCOLN last night at the New York Film Festival. There was NO TWEETING ALLOWED during the movie and to make sure all complied, the organizers had the audience not just turn off, but turn in their phones. They also had to agree not to review the film at this pre-release stage where Spielberg can still tweak elements.
Feinberg came away saying audiences will compare Daniel Day-Lewis' performance to that of Henry Fonda's "Young Mr. Lincoln". In an article ... NOT A REVIEW! ... in today's online edition Feinberg says "I expect it will be a sure shot for Academy Award nominations for best picture, best director, and best actor."
He goes on to say both Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Fields (Mary Todd Lincoln) should receive Best Supporting Actor nods. "And I also expect Spielberg's incomparable stock company of below-the-line craftsmen -- cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, film editor Michael Kahn, composer John Williams, et. al. -- to garner their usual noms as well.
In short, Lincoln appears to be Oscar-bait incarnate. As he did with his most ambitious historical films -- Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998) -- Spielberg, who has made a career of blurring the line between art and commerce, has risen to the occasion. Although the film runs two hours and twenty-five minutes, every scene felt tight and necessary, undoubtedly in large part because Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner penned its script, drawing from a small section of Doris Kearns Goodwin's rigorously researched historical study Team of Rivals.