LINCOLN – Donna Copeland (Texas Art & Film)
Available to stream on Prime
This is Spielberg at his best; no major flaws and not so perfect it looks unreal, as in War Horse. By starting with the highly respected work by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential historian (Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln), Spielberg’s film can be relied upon to give what seems to be a fairly accurate picture of the political turmoil surrounding the passage by Congress of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution outlawing slavery. This comes toward the end of the Civil War, which partially helped it succeed. Congressmen, citizens, and the North and the South were bone weary of the war, and Lincoln’s genius was to pair the bill he desperately wanted to pass with a truce. This required some dicey political maneuvers, but it is clear that Lincoln felt it was such a moral issue, he was willing to stretch the boundaries of political propriety.
In this film, we see Abraham Lincoln in ways we have seldom seen before—his wry humor, his patience with foes as well as family members, his love of storytelling (sometimes to the chagrin of the listener), his need for political power (based not on personal gain but on his principles), and his passion for his wife and children, for instance. We have seen—and do here again—the tremendous respect many had for him, his conscientiousness in wanting to do the right thing, his grief about the bloodiness of the Civil War, and his formidable knowledge.
A strength of Lincoln is not only the detailed arguments made for and against the 13th Amendment, but the colorful figures struggling to oppose and support it. Daniel Day Lewis is so much a “Lincoln”, the viewer forgets the actor and only sees the character. Another standout is Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) the irascible Congressman whom Jones shows in all his derisive foul-mouthed glory. A nod needs to be given to Sally Field for her portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln, as the pretty, bright, extravagant—and trying—wife of the President. I hope she, Lewis, and Jones all get recognized in the award nomination process.
Every aspect of good filmmaking comes into play in this film: Direction, production, acting, cinematography, costumes (Mary Todd Lincoln’s dresses are amazing and live up to her reputation for extravagance), set design, and editing (the film moves quickly despite the somewhat dry political arguments, which are peppered now and then with levity). Not only is it good filmmaking, but I think it would be an effective teaching tool in history classes.
AIR FORCE ONE – Travis Leamons (FreshFiction.TV)
Available to stream on Hulu, rent on Amazon Prime
Everybody who has seen 1997’s Air Force One knows the line. Come on, you know the one.
It happens at the tail end of the second act as the President of the United States (Harrison Ford) is tangling with the lead terrorist (Gary Oldman) in the cargo hold of the eponymous plane, ultimately strangling him with a parachute strap and breaking his neck when he pulls the release. Right before Oldman goes flying out into the wild dead yonder, Ford says four words in a voice as coarse as the rough side of sandpaper:
“GET OFF MY PLANE!”
It’s a moment etched in movie president lore. It is also the trademark of Wolfgang Petersen’s action-thriller – and more grin-worthy than any Hallmark card you’re likely to find for grandma. At least, that’s what I thought.
Close to twenty-five years after its release, this “Die Hard on a plane” plays a bit different.
Sixteen then, about to reach forty now, I watched it again recently and while it is fairly competent as a ‘90s action movie – recycling what worked for John McClane at Nakatomi Tower during a Christmas party interrupted by Santa Hans and his terrorist elves – the scene that jumped out at me was the president’s speech weeks after the U.S. and Russia collaborated together (not colluded) in apprehending a general leading a rogue terrorist regime in Kazakhstan looking to start Cold War 2: Nuclear Boogaloo.
President James Marshall pulls an audible at a diplomatic dinner in Moscow delivering a speech that even blinded his National Security Advisor. In the midst of declaring political self-interests would no longer dissuade from what is morally right, he says, “Real peace is not just the absence of conflict, it’s the presence of justice.” Now that’s a declarative statement, and something that echoes to this day.
Nonetheless, it is a footnote in a movie where POTUS and his wife and daughter are in the crosshairs of a terrorist group willing to kill hostages on Air Force One in an effort to have the imprisoned general released. Harrison Ford is put in a catch-22 when Gary Oldman puts a gun barrel against the temple of the First Lady. His foreign policy is taken to task at the expense of family, but in his shoes what would you do?
Family comes first, then national security. (It’s true, and you know it.)
Made at a time when Harrison Ford had hung up his whip and fedora as Indiana Jones after one last crusade (um, whoops) and played a fugitive looking for the one-armed man that killed his wife, Air Force One gives us a Medal of Honor recipient occupying the highest office in the United States.
President Marshall’s political party standing is not identified, unlike the film’s novelization, allowing Ford to be the “distinguished everyman.” He’s just an Iowan that went to Vietnam and came back a hero. Elected to the office of governor, Marshall’s success in the Hawkeye State leads him to the Nation’s Capital. A natural progression, modeled after Bill Clinton – minus the womanizing or scandals, of course – President Marshall is the Hollywood version of what we want in our Commander-in-Chief. Someone who isn’t afraid to get his suit ruffled, who’s good at playing hide and seek, and, since he’s a country boy, can dish out haymakers and serve knuckle-sandwiches to those that need serving.
Re-elect President Marshall. Tough on terrorism. All-American Ass-kicker.
THIRTEEN DAYS – Joe Leydon (Variety)
Available to rent on Hulu, Amazon Prime
Thirteen Days is an earnestly foursquare and unabashedly old-fashioned movie, which is just fine, maybe even perfect. When you have a true-life story as compelling as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, you have little need for melodramatic excess, high-tech pyrotechnics, or trendy stylistic flourishes. Indeed, this 2000 docudrama is all the more gripping for being written, directed and acted with such scrupulous restraint, and rendered with a stark simplicity that intensifies each turning of the screw, every raising of the stakes, during a fortnight of nuclear brinkmanship.
Kevin Costner provides marquee allure in the key role of White House advisor Kenny O’Donnell. To his credit, however, Costner dims his superstar wattage and dutifully recedes into the background whenever it’s time for Bruce Greenwood to command the screen with his complex and compelling portrayal of President John F. Kennedy. It’s no small measure of Greenwood’s skill that, even though he doesn’t particularly resemble JFK, he effortlessly conveys the essence of the familiar public persona. Better still, Greenwood comes across as a flesh-and-blood human, not a larger-than-life icon, in his moments of doubt and not-so-quiet desperation.
Thirteen Days isn’t so radical or revisionist as to upset those who still revere legends of the 20th-century Camelot. But it does indicate that, when the chips were down, JFK could be as hard-nosed and ruthlessly expedient as any other Cold Warrior. Which, the movie emphasizes, is exactly what made him the right man in the right place at the right time.
