Movie Review: The Conspirator

I knew John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln at the Ford Theatre. I didn't realize that he was part of a larger conspiracy that attacked other officials that night and that they were caught and tried in a military commission and hanged. Mary Surratt ran the boarding house where the conspirators met was also arrested, tried and has the distinction of being the first woman executed by the United States. Her guilt is less clear.

The Conspirator tells this story pretty well. It starts with a reenactment of the assassination and then transitions to a courtroom drama. I'm partial to courtroom stories and not knowing much about the story found it compelling. The conspirators were southerners and President Johnson and War Secretary Edwin Stanton wanted a quick military trial, not a civilian one) to protect the nation from future attacks. Sound familiar? It has amazing parallels to today. In fact, after the film I commented that it was odd seeing Kevin Kline (who played Stanton) as Dick Cheney.

As I read now in this PBS interview, Lincoln Assassination Film 'The Conspirator' Raises Timely Justice Questions, I'm shocked to see the script was written in the 1990s! "Well, the main thrust was at the center was -- is this extraordinary mother-son story and human story. As -- there happen to be parallels to the present never intended. I wrote this in the first few months of the Clinton presidency, and President Bush was not even yet the governor of Texas."

"When I first wrote it, people would say: "A fascinating story. I had no idea this took place. Nicely told, but what's its relevance to today?" I heard that over and over again those first eight years. After Sept. 11, 2001, I never heard that."

Still the story is the best part of the film. I thought it was shot uninterestingly and cut a little long. I also found the casting very distracting. Justin Long (the mac guy) and Alexis Bledel gave it a very TV feeling. James McAvoy as a lawyer looked like Josh Charles from The Good Wife. Colm Meaney, from Star Trek, was a general and head of the military commission. Stephen Root was a witness. They all did fine but I thought I was watching a TV movie.