Lincoln allows the radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to engage in his own dishonorable means in pursuit of the most honorable of goals.

CNN: What Obama can learn from Lincoln

Joseph Gordon-Levitt will take on the role of Lincoln's eldest son Robert Todd Lincoln and Tommy Lee Jones will play Thaddeus Stevens, a Republican leader and congressman from Pennsylvania.

BBC: Steven Spielberg to delay Lincoln film for election

The cast, uniformly superb, includes Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, Hal Holbrook as Lincoln adviser Preston Blair, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln, David Strathairn as William Seward and James Spader as political operative W.N.

WSJ: 'Skyfall' Upgrades Bond to Triple-A | Film Review by Joe Morgenstern