Theatrical Release: November 16, 2012



Dove Review

“Lincoln” features a masterful performance from Daniel Day Lewis as the sixteenth President of the United States. He is a story teller with wit and humor. One funny story Lincoln shares involves a Bible-quoting parrot that kept stating the world was coming to an end and how that one day the parrot’s owner had heard enough and killed the parrot. “That parrot’s prophecy came through, for him,” says Lincoln with a grin.

Regrettably, despite the fine acting and taut direction of Steven Spielberg, and the film’s dramatic telling of Lincoln’s unyielding drive to end slavery and the Civil War, the language in the film is extremely strong. In fact, I would not hesitate to state that the language they feature in the film (and this includes Lincoln cursing as well) does not line up with the morals and language of the time period. It was a more gentle time as far as moral speech was concerned and Lincoln is portrayed, even in the film, as being a man of faith. I was very disappointed with the abundance of curses and biblical profanities. Also, we need to note that there is a bloody scene involving dismembered legs being tossed into a dump and that, in addition to the carnage prevent us from considering this a family film.

Due to content issues, we are unable to award our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal to this film.

Content Description

Sex: A character is living with his maid although no one knows it.
Language: GD-12; G/OMG-1; J-1; F-2; D-5; H-5; SOB-2; Ni*gers-5; S-2; Crap-1; Geez-1; P-1; Idiot-1; One man uses the term "In the name of gentle Christ" and seems to mean it with reverence.
Violence: Battle scenes and shootings; corpses seen on ground; soldiers stabbed; woman states she was once beaten; several amputated or dismembered bloody legs are seen tossed into a dump
Drugs: Drinking in several scenes including wine; smoking including cigar smoking; a man attempts to roll tobacco.
Nudity: Cleavage.
Other: Racism and names used against blacks; a man states he hates black people.


Company: Touchstone Pictures
Writer: Tony Kushner & Doris Kearns Goodwin
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 120 min.
Industry Rating: PG-13
Reviewer: Edwin L. Carpenter