Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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.

. . . 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.

Killing Lincoln (2013)*** (out of 4) Tom Hanks hosts and narrates this docu-drama about the final days in the life of Abraham Lincoln (Billy Campbell) who would be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth (Jesse Johnson) and change American history forever. Hanks starts off quickly talking about how history has shown Lincoln as a martyr but then mentions that a minute before his death he really wasn't all that popular. This approach isn't something most documentaries take but it pretty much goes away from anything new and instead just tells us the assassination story again. Last year I watched quite a few documentaries on the Civil War and Lincoln so I've become well versed in the subject. This film here is certainly worth watching but at the same time I do question if it was really necessary to do the film like this. We'll see quick re-enactment of events and then we'll flashback to Hanks who is usually sitting in a chair. He will then tell us something about the events going on (ala.. Lincoln has 12 hours to live) and then we go back to the footage. I think the film probably would have worked just as well had it been done as a straight movie without the narration. I also think it would have been great had Hanks just narrated the entire story. As it is the film is entertaining but I think at times we never really connect with the re-enactments and I think Billy Campbell really gets hosed because he never really gets to come to life as Lincoln. It seems most of Lincoln's greatness is told through the narration so the acting of Campbell really doesn't have much of a part to do. On the other hand, Johnson is simply wonderful in the role of Booth and really manages to steal the film. While the subject might be about Lincoln, the actor makes the greatest attention go to the murderer. The look of the film was quite nice even with the obvious at times CGI. History buffs are certainly going to enjoy this and I think the best thing is how is breaks down what was going on the day of the assassination.

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.