Oh it's a very enjoyable film, really tightly paced and Fonda is spellbinding. But it's also so patently ridiculous that it's more of a comedy than a drama. The trial that makes up the second half is one of the most ludicrous things I've ever seen in a serious film.

My visceral dislike of Henry Fonda has now being coupled with a new-found dislike for our 16th president. I have lost patience for this type of patriotic mythological hokum.

Somewhat irritating. Did people really act like this? That judge was a fricken buffoon!

#567

Henry Fonda's very watchable performance aside this just isn't that good.

I didn't figure I'd be so stunned by such an "authentic" depiction of a 19th century statesman, but damn. Fonda just nails Lincoln, or at least the perpetuated myth of him, in a way I couldn't expect. The film is better earlier on, with Lincoln's lonely pontifications on law, lying next to a tree, moments of characterization that punch deep both in their meaning and familiarity. The trial stuff is okay, at the very least humorous, but I just can't stand for that kind of treatment of Ward Bond.

It's amazing how many great films came out in 1939, with this being one of them. The more movies I see of Fonda the more I like him. And as always John Ford is amazing as a director.

# 491

Very solid effort from Ford. Fonda was fantastic as the often awkward Lincoln. I appreciated the simplicity of the way he approached difficult matters, and always felt there were actual smarts underneath. Loved the use of humor and I can really appreciate the importance of this film as a piece of American mythology.

On the one hand it's a well-crafted and quite entertaining movie with a lot of nice little touches, but on the other hand I found the Lincoln presented here to be a very unappealing character. That anti-intellectual, pragmatic "I may not know much about the law, but I know what's right", jus'-a-good-ol'-country-boy attitude he sports throughout bothered me enough that it severely limited my appreciation of the movie. It may have been the point, but I'm not so sure about that.

Fonda is hypnotic as Lincoln, and the movie trucks along like a sonofabitch, making its 100 minutes feel more like 40. I also liked the balance between the Capra-esque good old country folk and the uglier side of the time and place. But a few things bother me. I prefer my historical dramas to shoot for accuracy, and Ford is going more for straight mythology. And things take a nosedive during the courtroom drama, a predictable affair that opens some wide plot holes. Enjoyable but not great.

As fictionalized it is, except for the minor distraction of Henry Fonda's funny nose, entertaining once the courtroom drama took off.

There are plenty of reasons I shouldn't like this: an unrealistic, saintly depiction of Lincoln, its simple morality, and a trial sequence that is non-procedural, makes many leaps, and has odd comedic relief. I couldn't help myself, though. Even if his role lacks nuance, Henry Fonda is completely endearing, and Ford's craftsmanship immerses the viewer in the period. A flawed but enjoyable movie.

Bullshit. A whole lot of "down home" stuff with the implicit message that them folks in America's heartland has purer hearts, I reckon. Actually, if you use too many big words around such people 6 or 8 times, they decide you're a heretic or something and lynch you. The eleventh-hour save Lincoln manages in the big court case is a twist you can see coming a mile away. I don't buy Fonda as Lincoln at all, and Weaver is far too pretty to be Mary Todd. I could go on and on...

529

461

Surprisingly not THAT cheesy. pray for a good remake.

A film steeped in iconography and mythology. Such a poetic and nuanced film What the fuck.

A very entertaining court room drama type movie with some humor mixed in. Fonda was excellent in the title role.