11 October 2012

Movie review for the day (Conspirator)

Rico says he watched, in some fascination, The Conspirator, a new movie by Robert Redford (photo, at left) about the trial of the conspirators (well, mostly Mary Surratt) in the Lincoln assassination. It was amazingly realistic and period-perfect, down to putting dirt in the streets of Washington so the horses wouldn't clop on the normally-paved streets.
It stars James McAvoy (photo, at right) as Frederick Aiken, the Union veteran hired to defend her, and Robin Wright (here no longer the fresh-faced Princess Bride) as Mrs. Surratt, the first woman hanged by the government. (The movie also stars, in far less visible roles, Kevin Kline as Edwin StantonTom Wilkinson as Reverdy JohnsonColm Meaney as David HunterToby Kebbell as John Wilkes BoothJonathan Groff as Louis WeichmannNorman Reedus as Lewis PayneJohn Michael Weatherly as George AtzerodtMarcus Hester as David Herold, and Gerald Bestrom as Abraham Lincoln, along with a host of others.
Whether or not you believe she was railroaded by a vindictive set of Union generals (all dead now a hundred years, so it no longer really matters), or was a part of a terrible conspiracy (probable, but not proven), it's a great piece of history and a very good movie. Like Joe Bob Briggs, Rico says check it out...

No comments:

 

Casino Deposit Bonus