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78 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Waterston is the Definitive Modern Lincoln, June 13, 2000
Sam Waterston is a very different Lincoln than the stately, orthodox one of Raymond Massey or even Henry Fonda. This Lincoln is clever, scheming, cynically funny and nakedly ambitious--one who might have a thing or two in common with some well known politicians of the 20th century. You could even call Waterston the first urban Lincoln, under the rail-splitting pretentions. But Waterston never loses sight of Lincoln's tortured, proud but guilt-ridden greatness, and that is the secret of his fine portrayal.
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78 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A more true picture of Lincoln than some would like to see.., January 3, 2005
But, more historically correct. Lincoln was a politician. He never set out to free the slaves. He actually offered leading free Blacks the opportunity to take the slaves to a new American colony in South America because he never thought ex-slaves would have a chance. There was corruption in his Administration. First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln probably sold the text of the "State of the Union" address to the New York Times. She also kept 'ghost' employees on the White House payroll to pay for her extravagances in remodeling.
Still, Lincoln was a good man and a good leader, grieved at the state of America. Sam Waterson depicts a man heavily laden with the burdens of a country, constituency, and family that could be enough to break a lesser person's resolve.
Mary Tyler Moore's performance as Mary Todd Lincoln was also good. No one will ever know whether it was mental illness, addiction to morphine, or some other cause that drove her to 'headaches' and spendthrift behavior. Tyler Moore's presentation was of Todd-Lincoln was troubled---and human.
My big complaint about this DVD was the film quality. This looked like a low budget film that was not digitially remastered for DVD. Pity, because this is an excellent depiction of the times and one of our American heroes.
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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strong portrait of a different Lincoln, December 13, 1999
By A Customer
The TV movie, perhaps predictably, doesn't have all the sardonic bite of Vidal's original novel. But it goes a long way toward breaking out of the Raymond Massey talking-waxwork mold and giving us a Lincoln believable as politician and man, as well as a strong portrait of the intensely political milieu in which he operated. Waterston is excellent-- completely unbound by past portrayals of Lincoln, and even fairly good at making us believe that he's anywhere near Lincoln's height-- and though I think there's a little too much of Mary Todd's personal life and not enough of the Civil War in this miniseries, there's no quibbling with Moore's splendid performance, which beautifully captures the pathos of this sad, unliked woman.
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