It was very well acted, beautifully shot and the story was interesting enough even though the outcome is never in doubt.
While some have complained that it focused almost solely on the issue of slavery, to be fair during the time period depicted Lincoln's main thrust was getting the proposed 13th Amendment through the House before the end of the war. Based on my understanding of Lincoln (the person and the president, as opposed to the movie), he struggled with the slavery question for most of his public life and eventually decided that the eradication of the institution was vital to the continuation of the Union. Though he firmly rejected the idea that slaves were property, by today's standards he would likely be considered a racist because he advocated separation of the races and unequivocally opposed granting former slaves what we would consider true equality. A transcript of his fourth debate with Stephen A. Douglas, where he touches upon the subject, is here:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1048
So, to my view, the film ascribes modern attitudes to Lincoln that he simply did not have.
On another note, while I disagree with many of his actions as President -- for example, suspending the writ of
habeas corpus and the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln, the character, makes wonderful arguments against both in the film) -- he is one of a handful of historical figures I think I would like to have had the chance to talk to. He was a successful lawyer and I often recall one of his quotes -- "It is good policy to never plead what you need not, lest you be obligated to prove what you can not" -- when working.
Sorry, probably more than you wanted to know.
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