recommended

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

****Warning - May contain spoilers****Then watch it for what Tom Lincoln says to young Abe toward the very end of the film. It is worth the entire rental. There is not much I can add, since so many people have beautifully reviewed this movie. But, I will say that few movies have taught me the value of stopping to really invest the time in my son's emotional and mental well-being in the far future as much as this movie. It is a lesson that is, perhaps, born out of the simpler and harsher way of life. But it is a lesson that parents of Millennials desperately need to cherish. It is a stark but beautiful movie. Very well done. The cinematography is stunningly gorgeous. Every word of dialogue is so purposeful that even the silence has meaning. It is not a movie to be watched for a history lesson on Abraham Lincoln. It is to be watched for a lesson on life.

The Better Angels, a 2014 Lincoln drama directed by AJ Edwards followed Abraham Lincoln as a boy (played by Brayden Denney) and his experiences living from the land. We see Lincoln going through the trials of his youth alongside his dad, Tom Lincoln (played by Jason Clarke) and siblings. Considering how tragic Lincoln's youth was, the film did not make me feel much for any of the characters. By the end of the movie I felt as if I could have been watching any boy from that time period. But speaking of time period, it is one thing I loved about the film. The time and place (Indiana, 1817) felt authentic and I liked that I was able to observe what life was like back then. The crude and realistic production design and the plain costume design were both fitting to the time. The black and white color palette also helped to convey the simplicity of the period. To characterize the boy as Lincoln, there were lines about him reading books, and scenes of him wrestling, but the core of his childhood was his relationship with his mother and step-mother which I felt were underdeveloped in the film or did not feel as essential as they were in real life. I did enjoy watching the father-son relationship in the film. There was tension between the two in real life, as Tom Lincoln seemed more fond of his step son than his real son. But, as the movie went forward, there was a warm side of Tom Lincoln on display which I enjoyed. Specifically, when he tells Abraham that he'll be twice the man he was, it was heartwarming and revealed a less one sided approach to their relationship. The cinematography was not bad by any means but I do wish that the cinematographer would have calmed down a bit. Almost every scene had continuous camera movement that didn't always seem motivated by anything and it drew attention to itself. This over complication of movement seemed to be an overcompensation for the slow pace and lack of substance throughout the film. Overall, The Better Angels had some beautiful shots and started to peel away at Lincoln's childhood. However, it was overly pretentious and unfocused, which led to it feeling more like a seedling of a movie than the fully developed, blossomed film it could have been.

I just saw this film about Abraham Lincoln's childhood in the harsh wilderness of Indiana and the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever and the two women who guided him to immortality off Amazon Prime. Only one word to describe this...mesmerizing... I read a user comment that said this was better than the disappointing Spielberg "Lincoln" from a few years ago, which quite honestly, after watching this film, I had forgotten about. But after reading that comment, I really think these are two good companion pieces to each other. I forget the director/writer's name, but this film has producer Terrence Malick's fingerprints all over it. It doesn't tell a story so much, as it gives you an experience- makes you feel like you are right there with the characters. This method allows you to get to know them in a more intimate way than the usual film storytelling. Diane Kruger, Jason Clarke (who especially is good as Lincoln's father) and Wes Bentley co-star.Please check out all my reviews, plus lots of good interaction and group discussion about anything/everything movies/TV/entertainment at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/movie.holiks/Email us at:movie.holiks@groups.facebook.comAnd don't settle for second best!- lots of copy-cat and imitation groups out there, but "the REAL movie-holiks" is THEE original one!

.....is the word that came to mind numerous times throughout the film, and captain Castile reviewed it best. I would add that although I thought I had a grasp of pioneer living, I now know I didn't have a clue! I kept relating all the hardships shown in that era juxtaposed to how pampered we live today, and yet have the gall to complain about someone taking our parking spot! We owe it to ourselves to watch this wonderful snapshot, if not for the Lincoln history, then for the lesson learned/relearned of how wonderfully blessed we are to live in this time of aplenty, and maybe stand up for right and wrong, and try to maintain a grip on the America we grew up with!