Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)

This was seized on by critics all over in some desperation as Spielberg's return to form, but it's really just further evidence of irreversible flabbiness and sentimentality, in which the cracks are papered over by committed performances from Daniel Day-Lewis as the titular character and Tommy Lee Jones as a righteous firebrand.
It's basically the last three months of Lincoln's life, as he tries to force an anti-slavery amendment through an intransigent Congress in the dying days of the Civil War. We see a lot of politicking with countless grey-bearded men for most of the two and a half hours, punctuated by Day-Lewis delivering metaphorical anecdotes, quotations from a wealth of literature and parables in a voice which is probably higher-pitched and softer than what one would associate with previous stentorian depictions of the iconic character. He's as great as ever in his chameleon-like abilities, and if it at any point comes across parodically, it will be the director's fault. As it is, the director's great fault is the structure: too much time spent on trying to juggle legal process with private life, too much sugar-coating of a flawed hero and a very flat and sudden end that has less panache than a real-life story from the History Channel. This is a massively overrated film that only owes its status to a few key actors and U.S. critics in fear and awe.

5/10