As far back as I can remember, I have always been a Lincoln/Kennedy assassination buff. There are many similarities between the lives and deaths of the two men, sadly one of them is that we will never know the entire truth behind their deaths. I eagerly awaited this film and I will say up front that it was well worth the wait. Except for the 1998 TNT-TV film The Day Lincoln Was Shot, this is the finest motion picture about the terrible events of April 14, 1865. For this history lover, watching this masterwork was like reading history by flashes of lightning! Robert Redford is a true genius as a director. He won an Oscar for the 1980 movie Ordinary People and as far as I'm concerned the Academy should just mail him another right now and save everyone a lot of trouble! This great filmmaker perfectly captures the mood, texture and feel of the nation after the assassination when people wanted revenge and not justice and innocent people paid a terrible price. People don't realize that Lincoln's death caused the country as much heartache as JFKs did. There can be not greater injustice then an innocent person being executed and watching this film I am convinced beyond any possible doubt that poor Mary Surrat was such a person. Robin Wright, Mrs. Forrest Gump, is amazing as this dignified, brave woman. She should also get Oscar gold. She is a simple widow who is caught up in this race for vengeance. You feel for this poor woman who is caught in a nightmare. A young actor called James McAvoy also shines as her young lawyer who at first is reluctant and then fights with passion. The courtroom scenes are the best I have seen since A Few Good Men. I was so angry because Mary Surrat and the others were illegally tried by a military court. It was later ruled that this trial should never have taken place. It was a trial that stank with perjury and she did not stand a chance. SPOILER ALERT, the final scene of the hanging is bone chilling. You feel like a time traveler standing there watching it. To me, this is Robin Wright's finest hour as an actress as she bravely faces death while her three male counterparts are weeping. Robin made Mary Surrat seem so real to me and that is the greatest compliment that you can pay an actor. I was so angry at her cowardly son John. He was the real culprit. He was the one who was going to help Booth and the others escape. The assumption is (and this film makes a convincing case) that the government only arrested Mary to draw out her son and when he did not come forward, they had no choice but to hang her. SPOILER ALERT, in the last scene of the film after the execution John Surrat is finally caught and there is a scene where Aiken visits him in jail and gives him his mother's religious jewelry. The credits mention that John Surrat was tried but set free, I hoped that he never had a happy day for the rest of his life because his mother's innocent blood was always on his filthy hands. This is a four star two thumbs up masterpieces and this is the reason that we go to the movies.
Review of The Conspirator
