Maybe it is because I know less about British history, but I was convinced that the characters genuinely felt a sense of urgency to end slavery in Amazing Grace and loved the legislative procedural tricks it took to make it happen, but in comparison, I couldn’t suspend disbelief at the major point of this movie: that all Lincoln wanted was to end slavery, especially since he actually said that the union was his primary concern. The movie suggests that the majority of people who voted against it thought that it was wrong: not for strategic or economic reasons. Even if I put this disbelief to the side, the major flaw of this movie is character & plot development for everyone other than Lincoln, played by the eternally magnificent Daniel Day-Lewis. Was it nice to see James Spader? Yes, I love him. What was the name of his character & how long did it take for me to figure out what he was doing? I don’t know & I think that he was a shady dude trying to get votes. Pretty much the movie hurls in a lot of characters, famous actors (heh, isn’t that the guy from Girls, oh look, there is Joseph Gordon-Levitt whom we hate now after Looper, etc) and broadly sketches them yet it creates no sense of urgency or a compelling story. A lot of good intentions & parts, but bloated by a liberal fantasy of our great nation. Needed a more cynical writer to bring everything together and an editor big enough to turn to Spielberg and save him from himself.