Too much of everything

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is yet another "historical" look at the life of Lincoln (Tom Amandes) as seen through the eyes of Ward Hill Lamon (Lea Coco), his friend and bodyguard. The film starts with their meeting and ends shortly after Lincoln's death.The acting was first and foremost horrible. The reading of the Gettysburg Address was akin to Rosanne Barr performing the National Anthem. The dialogue was unrealistic, at times modern, and mostly fictional. The theological discussion Lincoln has with a former slave had me scratch my head. His kneeling afterwards and belief that he had a divine purpose was Lamon's answer to Herdon's biography which claimed Lincoln was an atheist. I wouldn't put either view into a film.The background was taken from 3D viewmaster pictures and even crowds were still photos with "actors" in front of them. It gave the film a cheap surreal look. Historically I was scratching my head too. Upon their meeting they wanted Hill to perform a song from West Virginia which wasn't a state at that time. The famous picture of Washington which we all looked at in school with its bottom partially burned off from the War of 1812 was fully intact in this film. Edward D. Baker died in Oct. of 1861 but is presented at a time of the announcements of battles well into 1862.There is a constant self glorification of Ward Hill Lamon whose speech was grandiose and yes he was also an Amazing Kreskin at predicting the death of the President. Not an impressive film.

During the years of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War there was quite a renewal of interest in the War Between the States and the massive Lincoln film came out the year before Saving Lincoln did. With all the honors that film received Saving Lincoln has been kind of pushed into the background. Still it is a film that stands on its own merits.I remember Tom Amandes best from his reprise of The Untouchables as Eliot Ness. He certainly proved up to the challenge of playing Abraham Lincoln. One thing that is shown here and not often demonstrated was how politically shrewd and how deceptively cunning Lincoln could be at times. A quality lacking certainly in his immediate successor.Also demonstrated is the amount of abuse Lincoln took and how now in history he rises head and shoulders above his critics. Presidential dignity was of paramount importance to him and to the men who were president who history has deemed great. I suspect had Twitter been available he would have disdained its use.In terms of devotion to his chief Ward Hill Lamon was the ideal presidential aide. He was appointed a federal marshal for the District of Columbia to give him a kind of official status. His job simply was to guard Lincoln and Lincoln being our tallest president didn't make it easy. In real life Lamon was nearly that height himself.. The singular devotion is brought out by actor Lea Coco playing Lamon.A key scene in the film is where Lincoln first meets Lamon. The attorneys who rode circuit with Lincoln and you see them in the tavern knocking back a few after a day's work were the people who were Lincoln's close associates. The guys who knew him when so to speak. The bonds formed there were the strongest ties Lincoln had, maybe even more so than his wife played here by Penelope Ann Miller.Saving Lincoln will give you another perspective on the man most historians rank as our greatest president. He certainly faced the greatest challenge we ever had as a nation.

The movie Saving Lincoln portrays an extremely good description of Abraham Lincoln life and the hardships he endured. The movie is narrated by one of his close friend and personal bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon. As you watch the movie from the perspective of Lamon you get to see both the struggles that Lincoln had and the extreme difficulty and tiring task of keeping the most loved but also most hated person in the United States alive during the time of the Civil War. The movie also stays very historically accurate and the use of real Civil War pictures really brings the whole meaning of the movie together. The movie takes you on a journey of the ¨epic friendship¨ between Lincoln and Ward Hill Lamon.

There has been many films done about Abraham Lincoln and most have the same material. This film "Saving Lincoln" brings a new and fresh story about Lincoln and that was about his bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon and showed a different side of Lincoln, a side of Lincoln taking unnecessary risks with his Life. First i want to say this film was very well written and done by director Sal Litvak and Nina Davidovich. Also superb performances by Tom Amandes as Lincoln and Lea Coco as Marshall Lamon. And also great performances by Bruce Davidson and Penelope Ann Miller. This is a film i highly recommend everyone to watch this film and add it to your Lincoln collection. There has been several Lincoln Films and Documentaries done this past year. This one is among the best i have ever seen.