Four score and seven years ago, it was 1925. That’s not really relevant, but it seems difficult to write a review of Lincoln without including the man’s most famous phrase, even if not that many people even know how many years “four score” is, and even if that’s the least important aspect of his Gettysburg address (and yet the most enduring).
So then, with that out of the way, let’s talk about a movie that is only partially about the events of 1864-1865, at least on a subtextual level. Technically, there’s no reason Steven Spielberg couldn’t have directed Lincoln a decade ago, in exactly the same way. But it wouldn’t have been the same movie — not by a long shot. Lincoln is a curious thing — a movie that takes place 150 years ago that might be more relevant now than it ever could have been before.
