US Movie Review: "The Conspirator" (2010)

Historical courtroom drama directed by Robert Redford about the case of Mary Surratt,  one of the people charged in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War.  You may not be aware, but the plot was much broader than just John Wilkes Booth shooting Lincoln in Ford's Theater that night.  Other conspirators attempted to kill the VP and Secretary of State the same night.

Last time I was back in Washington DC I visited the American History Museum and learned a bit of the story of the conspiracy in a special exhibition they had about Lincoln, his presidency and his assassination.

The film focuses on Surratt as a co-conspirator who is charged with knowing about the plot and abetting in its execution by allowing the conspirators to use her boarding house to plan their plot.

I'm not sure how true the film's account is to the historical record,  but it seems like Mrs. Surratt was mostly convicted based on guilt by association.  The film doesn't mince words about it either....  Kevin Kline plays the War Secretary (aka the Donald Rumsfeld of the 1860s) who decides someone needs to take the fall to make sure the rebs know the war is over, so he tries them in a military tribunal with few concerns for the constitution or not blatantly forcing witnesses to make up stuff to get a conviction.

Like many of these types of films,  its obvious that the producers and directors are using historical drama as a way to shine a light on current events.  In this case there's a lot of parallels between post-9/11 'enemy combatant' military trials and the military trials of the Lincoln assassins.  

An interesting parallel I suppose.  Despite the 'sky is falling' proclamations that the free world is coming to an end, we survived that period and I suppose we have (or still are going to be) surviving the current strain on liberty. :-P

Anyway, as far as the movie itself... As all the assassinating happens in the first 10 minutes of the film,  90% of it takes place in the aftermath,  so its pretty methodical and un-action packed as you can imagine.  Even for a courtroom drama its not very exciting.   (no "The truth? You can't handle the truth!" type verbal action). :-P

James McAvoy's performance as the defense lawyer doesn't really inspire too much, the performances by everyone else (except for maybe baby-faced Justin Long) are much better though,  Robin Wright plays Surratt much more convincingly.

I'll give it a 5/10 though.  worth watching for American history buffs at least.