Powerful

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Killing Lincoln educates its audience with the history of Lincoln's assassination without exaggerating or dramatizing any aspects of the tragedy. Tom Hanks narrates the film, which tended to make it a bit boring at times, but it was also necessary to inform the viewer with as much history as possible. The movie also introduced some details of the situation that I wasn't familiar with beforehand. For instance, when I think of John Wilkes Booth, I immediately associate him with Lincoln's death. However, the movie revolves around Booth and his acting career, which gave me a better idea of Booth's identity. I was also interested by the scene where Lincoln told the freed slave, "You are a free citizen; kneel to no one but God." It showed Lincoln's true character and emphasized his humility. Although historical dramas don't usually interest me, I enjoyed watching Killing Lincoln.

I think that this is a good movie. As for myself not being a huge documentary fan, that aspect of he film wasn't so much to my liking. I wish it had been more of a movie with a plot and storyline, without all of the narrating. However for the purpose that I was to watch it (a history class assignment) I learned a lot through it, and despite my negative feelings toward he narration, Tom Hanks does a wonderful job setting the viewer up and giving them a sufficient amount of background knowledge to be able to understand the happenings of the movie. Also at some points throughout the movie, the way that certain scenes were filmed seemed a bit shaken almost, unprofessional-like. Now whether that was done on purpose or not, I was not very pleased with that. I did like the way that before a new event began in the movie, or a new scene, the time, place and date were shown. Again providing the viewer with background information so they don't get too lost in following the story. As for the story itself, the story of the assassination of President Lincoln, in my opinion, was told very well through this movie. I liked the way that it seemed to take an objective approach and just told the story how it happened, without seeming to really advocate for either side more than the other. It was very informative and I thought that the casting was done well too. John Wilkes Booth's character especially fit, I think, because he just seems creepy the whole way through the movie, with his mustache and the journal entries he writes of his self justification for the terrible thing he has done. All in all I think that this movie was a good movie, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the story of Lincoln's assassination or who particularly enjoy historical documentaries.

Killing Lincoln (2013)*** (out of 4) Tom Hanks hosts and narrates this docu-drama about the final days in the life of Abraham Lincoln (Billy Campbell) who would be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth (Jesse Johnson) and change American history forever. Hanks starts off quickly talking about how history has shown Lincoln as a martyr but then mentions that a minute before his death he really wasn't all that popular. This approach isn't something most documentaries take but it pretty much goes away from anything new and instead just tells us the assassination story again. Last year I watched quite a few documentaries on the Civil War and Lincoln so I've become well versed in the subject. This film here is certainly worth watching but at the same time I do question if it was really necessary to do the film like this. We'll see quick re-enactment of events and then we'll flashback to Hanks who is usually sitting in a chair. He will then tell us something about the events going on (ala.. Lincoln has 12 hours to live) and then we go back to the footage. I think the film probably would have worked just as well had it been done as a straight movie without the narration. I also think it would have been great had Hanks just narrated the entire story. As it is the film is entertaining but I think at times we never really connect with the re-enactments and I think Billy Campbell really gets hosed because he never really gets to come to life as Lincoln. It seems most of Lincoln's greatness is told through the narration so the acting of Campbell really doesn't have much of a part to do. On the other hand, Johnson is simply wonderful in the role of Booth and really manages to steal the film. While the subject might be about Lincoln, the actor makes the greatest attention go to the murderer. The look of the film was quite nice even with the obvious at times CGI. History buffs are certainly going to enjoy this and I think the best thing is how is breaks down what was going on the day of the assassination.

If you watch this movie, you will know the facts of the events leading to, the events of, and the results of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. This is most excellently performed.The actors who portrayed both Lincoln (Billy Campbell) & Booth (Jesse Johnson) performed A plus roles. Both actors conveyed the feel of the age and the personality of both historical persons as history has made them known to us. Excellent. Johnson for sure deserves an award. Watching his performance, you will feel that you know Booth.If you are at all interesting in these events, watch this movie. You will be well educated, informed, and entertained. In this modern day, such a combination is rare, indeed.In the highest minded rationale, this is as good an expression of the TV art as there can be.