I looked around, and swear I couldn't find a post-release thread or anything.
This is a smart and engrossing film. Everyone knows about John Wilkes Booth, but rarely are the other conspirators in the plot to kill Lincoln (and others!) mentioned. This is a period piece with meticulous attention to detail. I especially loved the newspaper clips providing a very economic and efficient overview of the months following Lincoln's death.
The heart and soul of this piece, however, is James McAvoy. I hadn't been convinced of his ability as a leading man until this film. Wanted wasn't all that impressive, and although he's great in First Class that's really an extension of his ability to bounce off the other actors. Here he's noble, stubborn, inquisitive, passionate, and bearded. What a beard! Everyone in this film is rocking the facial hair.
Except for Robin Wright. I can't remember seeing Princess Buttercup in anything since Forrest Gump, but here she is a delight. The Joan of Arc imagery isn't very subtle during the prison cell scenes, but I love that she isn't played as a saint. Her hatred of the north is never downplayed, and her defense of her son is simultaneously brave and wrongheaded.
Kevin Kline (and beard!) has to be mentioned here. He's a sleaze, but what's great about this movie is all the characters are given multifaceted motivations. He's trying to hold the country together, and it's clear that he isn't exactly wrong if not exactly right. There aren't any opportunities for him to be funny, which I usually expect out of Kline, but he is commanding.
As a period piece it feels accurate (not sure about all the details), but although Redford has class he goes a little overboard with the lense flares. I understand in the school of Spielberg and Abrams that lense flares lend an ethereal feel to stories that otherwise are outside of the audience's comfort zone (the past and the future), and it almost works because the natural light in the movie has to compensate for the lack of electricity, but it overwhelms at times. Otherwise, kudos for the director for a timeless feel, and allowing his actors to bounce off each other in a classic, theatrical way. The flashbacks, at times, are rather sudden and there's a jarring lack of transition, but that becomes more natural as the story progresses.
The script is tight, and the courtroom drama is riveting. I appreciated little details, like Anne Surratt not being allowed to see her mother. Again I'm not sure how much is accurate, as it feels very cinematic at times (Mary being granted a right to a civilian trial, only to be told the morning of the hanging that the vice president superseded that), but never truncated. The plot has room to breath.
Highly recommended, especially for Justin Long's pervestache. The only weak link is Alexis Bledel. She does the fragile, supportive and then judgmental well, but she's surrounded by titans and is too soft to keep up.
