Historical movies have kind of gotten a bad reputation for their tendency to be highly inaccurate to what actually happened during the event or subject of the film. “Lincoln” a new film by Steven Spielberg that seems like the director’s attempt to grab another Oscar, prides itself on the fact that it is nearly completely historically accurate. It’s interesting to see a movie attempt to do this because for most people, history needs a little exaggeration before it gets bearable. While I’m sure some things in this movie are an exaggeration, it does a good job at making the whole situation — the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment which freed the slaves— seem real and engaging.

Since Abraham Lincoln is the main focus of the film, it is wholly important that his character is done right, and Daniel Day Lewis does a fantastic job of really showing the kind of person Lincoln was, including all of his flaws, character traits and silly quirks. There’s no doubt he will get an Oscar nomination for this role, and he deserves it because on-screen he really does embody — at least what we know historically — what Lincoln was like. In addition, viewers also get an idea of the effect he must of had on people in his time.

Now that all the praising of Daniel Day Lewis is out of the way, I have to be honest, this movie was pretty boring to me. It’s dialogue heavy, which I honestly don’t have a problem with. I don’t need constant action to keep me entertained. Where the problem lies with “Lincoln” is that the dialogue is drawn out. The president loves to tell stories, and he will make them as long as possible and with little purpose. The film is aware of this and even makes fun of it on a few occasions, but I felt like I needed to be 40 years older to really appreciate the jokes.

It’s possible Lincoln was intended for a more mature audience, and that a half-wit teenager like me can’t appreciate the film’s artistic merit, but this movie was completely suitable for people of all ages because Spielberg always makes movies suitable for everyone. I feel bad because I wanted to like this movie, the subject is incredibly interesting to me. But if I wanted to watch Congress argue for an hour, I would turn on C-SPAN.

Maybe I’m giving this movie too hard of a time, the truth is it is very well done, and I really liked the setting and photography. It’s a really interesting movie and tells of one of the most important presidents in American history. Go watch this movie if you are at all interested in history. “Lincoln” deserves respect for just staying true to history, and even if it gets boring at times, Daniel Day Lewis does a good enough job not to put you to sleep.