Director: Steven Spielberg
I was so excited about seeing this movie, with some trepidation, since the trailer first came out. The excitement is due to the intersection of historical geekiness and the wonder that can be a cinematic interpretation of our greatest president (I loved the aw-shucks mythology in John Ford's The Young Mr. Lincoln), and the trepidation came from the War Horse style shots in the trailer. I was afraid Spielberg was going to pile on the oozy sentiment (as much as I love sentimental pictures).
Anyway, Spielberg showed remarkable restraint, and this is a very good movie. There are moments where the cinematography and John William's music come across too strongly, but they are few, and don't stand in the way of the great performance around which this movie rotates, and from which it draws its life.
That performance is Daniel Day-Lewis' apparently effortless accomplishment of re-creating for all of us this great man. His performance is stunningly naturalistic, and fits this movie's intentional effort to comment on the mythos and man of who this president was as well as Brando's nervous fidgeting fits the anxious moral conflict of On the Waterfront. I can't imagine he won't win Best Actor, but this is the sort of performance that transcends that sort of affirmation.
I also wouldn't be surprised if this movie wins Best Picture, but I still prefer Moonrise Kingdom.
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