Coming Soon : The Conspirator

Release Date : April 15th, 2011 (USA)
Director : Robert Redford
Starring : Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson

One of America's most celebrated presidents, Abraham Lincoln is in the limelight once again, 146th years after his demise. But this is not the in-development Lincoln biopic by Steven Spielberg. This movie is about the aftermath of his infamous assassination;

At first glance, it's a little hard to be excited about this one, particularly because the historical significance isn't really felt around these parts of the world. But don't let the setting throw you off, this movie does have that potential to cross cultural barriers since it's very much political, and it seems like it's mostly a courtroom drama.

It helps that veteran Hollywood star Robert Redford is also known for his other political thriller, Lions for Lambs [2007]. Critics gave that movie a hard time, but personally I didn't think it was too bad to have earned a 27% rating on RottenTomatoes.

Another reason to be excited is the solid star cast. One of today's favourite "everyman" actor, James McAvoy is in it, as well as Justin Long and Tom Wilkinson. I am hardly a fan of Robin Wright (Penn), but it does seem like she is perfectly suited for this role. It kind of reminds of that role aging actresses often take, where they will choose not to play on their sex appeal and try to be as dramatic as possible by looking unattractive.

In case you didn't catch that pop culture reference, I was referring to the likes of Charlize Theron (Like in Monster [2003])

Long story short, I am not holding my breath on this one, but it's been a while since I saw a good courtroom drama, so I hardly have any expectation whatsoever.