Saving Lincoln

2013 "The true story of an epic friendship."
5.5| 1h41m| NR| en
Details

The almost entirely true story of Abraham Lincoln and his self-appointed bodyguard, U.S. Marshal Ward Hill Lamon - a banjo-playing Southerner who foiled repeated attempts on the President's life, and kept him functioning during the darkest hours of the Civil War.

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

Stream on any device, 30-day free trial Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing
Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!
Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
AlexBraunberger A film unlike any I have seen before, if uses live action in combination with actual photographs from the era comma as a backdrop. I think that the makers of this we're going for that sense of realism that is associated with historical photos. And few periods in American history have been more photographed than the Civil War. The premise of the film is the friendship between President Abraham Lincoln and his best bodyguard. The one most loyal and vigilant in his duty of protecting the life of the president of the United States. It avoids any awkward moments that could be easily misconstrued by politically-correct revisionists. As far as I know the makers of this film did their homework.
bilalq-85914 Saving Lincoln is a film that is relatively historically accurate, yet quite mediocre in production quality. While the actors are able to put up somewhat believable performances, some of them simply do not resemble the characters they are portraying. The film also seems to brush over some of Abraham Lincoln's most notable moments, as if the filmmakers are just showing a crash course on the life of Lincoln. Aside from this, some of the dialogue and pacing of the film is rather poor. Saving Lincoln primarily focuses on the relationship between our 16th President, played by Tom Amandes and his bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, played by Lea Coco. The film follows the duo from when they first meet all the way until Lincoln's second term as President. These two specific actors perform well objectively, and Coco seems to grasp the heroic nature needed to portray someone as vital as the bodyguard of the President. Amandes seems to be a bad fit for Lincoln though, as even when he makes the most of the sub-par dialogue, he simply does not look very much like Abraham Lincoln. In comparison to Daniel Day Lewis in Spielberg's Lincoln, Amandes looks very off. He does not seem tall enough, and his face is far too forgettable to be that of Lincoln's. Out of all Lincoln actors such as Lewis, Henry Fonda, and Raymond Massey, as well as others, Amandes seems the least like the President. His voice is also far too deep in pitch and is missing Lincoln's accent. The production quality of Saving Lincoln was not one of its strengths. Excessive use of a green screen and TV-movie-like costumes serve as the main factors here. The backgrounds appear fake and the costumes look cheap. The sepia filter applied over the footage is cheesy and unnecessary. This took away from the film more than it added anything. As mentioned earlier, the dialogue in Saving Lincoln is one of its weaker points. Character development is sparse, and exposition is given too quickly in the form of dialogue. Real conversations where the audience can notice the character's personalities and relationships with each other are lacking. For example, Lincoln and Lamon do not seem truly friendly with each other because of the dialogue the actors are given to work with. This film seems to lack patience and the opportunity to take a minute to breathe. It moves so quickly over momentous parts of Lincoln's life such as the Gettysburg Address, the death of Willie Lincoln, and his plans to end slavery. The film does seem to have a good grasp on the life of Lincoln, though. It includes scenes based on actual events. Even if they are just displayed in plain sight, scenes in which a first Lincoln assassination failed to fall through, Lamon protecting Lincoln on a horse ride, the delivery of the Gettysburg Address, and nearly all other scenes are based on real history.
Hannah Sheehan I enjoyed this movie and the new perspective it gave me on the life of Abraham Lincoln. The movie shows many important events during his time as president, but while most movies would only show these events from a military or political perspective, they are shown here from a personal perspective as well. We get to see how Lincoln's friends and family helped him through his presidency, and how they frequently tried to lighten the mood with music. I thought that this in particular made the movie interesting. Another thing that makes this movie unique is that it is in black and white. I liked this aspect because it worked well with the actual photographs from this time period that were already in black and white. Overall, I thought that the film was very good, and I learned a lot more than I had originally thought I was going to.
elizamancecc The movie showed Lincoln's life and his struggles from a very different point of view. You see it from the point of view of Lincoln's good friend Ward Hill Lamon. The movie shows the risks taken by Lincoln during his everyday life because of the threats of assassination. Although Lincoln continued to take these risks, his bodyguard and close friend Lamon kept doing everything in his power to protect Lincoln from all possible threats. The film was done in a very unique way with actual pictures from this time period being used as the background. I enjoyed learning about Lincoln and his life from the perspective of Lamon, which is different from the way you would traditionally learn about Lincoln.