Killing Lincoln (2013)

The tragedy of President Abraham Lincoln's death is narrated in this film by Tom Hanks. I found Hanks to be an appropriate narrator, as he has a powerful voice and was confident in himself, making the movie easier to watch. However, I did not particularly like the actor for Booth. You could tell that he was acting, it wasn't a convincing performance. Regardless, the historical facts are all highly accurate, with little to no aspects of the film exaggerated. I would suggest this movie to anyone interested in learning more about the presidents death, as you are walked through the events, and can rely on the accuracy of the facts. Moreover, I was a fan of the fact that periodically throughout the movie, the number of days Lincoln had left to live were announced. A fact that I was unaware of prior to watching the film was that Lincoln had a dream a few days before his assassination, of his own death.

The assassination of the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln might had been one of the most-documented moments in the history of the United States, but there are also conspiracies on what led to what would be remembered in history as the first successful assassination on an American president.It began with the person who had successfully did so in actor John Wilkes Booth along with his co-conspirators hatching the plan to not only assassinate Lincoln, but also key members of his administration in Vice-President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. Booth, who was already a prominent theatre actor in his day, had a genuine dislike for Lincoln. But assassinating the president who freed the slaves, something which Booth detested, was not originally in his plan. His original plan was to just kidnap Lincoln in order to demand release of captured Confederate soldiers.As for Lincoln, along with the story of Booth's, it concurrently charted the key moments leading up to the end of the American Civil War. It was 10 days before the day of the assassination happened, Lincoln had a dream of a body lying in a coffin in the middle of the White House and people were mourning the death of the person. When he asked who had died, he got the reply that it was the president.While that was the biggest indicator of what was to come at Ford's Theater, the docu-drama had also mentioned that there had been assassination plots on Lincoln throughout his presidency, but they were always being discovered. It was suggested that it came as a result of the level of dislike and hatred towards him, which was not seen on such a scale during the Civil War. Before the dream Lincoln had took place, the most prominent attempt came when Lincoln, all alone, was riding his horse to the War Department where his horse was being shot.History has always has a knack of pinpointing people into various labels, but despite Booth's hatred of Lincoln is well-documented; he was actually born in the state of Maryland which did not ceded from the Union. But it was also fascinating watching how those who witnessed the assassination had actually varying accounts from each other, such that there is no official account of what happened.Whatever one's views of the assassination is, the docu-drama is definitely worth your time.

. . . such as Daniel Day-Lewis' LINCOLN in 2012 or Raymond Massey's ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS from 1940. Further, though Mary Surrat was the most interesting person hung, apparently Robert Redford's THE CONSPIRATOR movie about her case from 2010 scared KILLING LINCOLN's crew away, as Mary is NOT EVEN MENTIONED until 1:26:09 of this 1:28:10 long TV movie! So I guess after seeing all the other Lincoln flicks, Abe was feeling like an old buddy and I was sort of wondering what he would think about all 31 minutes and 50 seconds of ads (especially those repeated a dozen or more times, such as the network promos for WICKED TUNA and INSIDE COMBAT RESCUE). As he was pretty old and disabled by his assassination, all of the ads for health remedies (RA.com arthritis treatment, Celebrex arthritis medicine, Kellogg's Frosted Miniwheat Crunch--which is presented as a health food, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, etc.). Google's cute ad about the mom who does a quick search for her young daughter's last-minute disclosure that she has a "Dress like a Presiden's Day" Millard Fillmore assignment surely would have provoked a belly laugh from Abe, given that he knew Fillmore. Sponsor Viking Cruises would have been right up his alley, as he and Mary were planning to see the world as soon as his term ended. At the rate Mary was spending his dough, Abe definitely would have paid attention to the Raymond James financial adviser ads, what with the solid gold apple tree and all. I'm not sure he would have done his booking through Captain Kirk & Expedia, but the JACK THE GIANT SLAYER promo may have been enough to lure him away from that fatal trip to Ford's theater! The night's saving grace, if Abe were watching, is that he would NOT have seen how Ford Motor Co. is ripping off his heirs by using his name and likeness on its imitation Cadillac cars.

If you watch this movie, you will know the facts of the events leading to, the events of, and the results of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. This is most excellently performed.The actors who portrayed both Lincoln (Billy Campbell) & Booth (Jesse Johnson) performed A plus roles. Both actors conveyed the feel of the age and the personality of both historical persons as history has made them known to us. Excellent. Johnson for sure deserves an award. Watching his performance, you will feel that you know Booth.If you are at all interesting in these events, watch this movie. You will be well educated, informed, and entertained. In this modern day, such a combination is rare, indeed.In the highest minded rationale, this is as good an expression of the TV art as there can be.