Everyone knows about Abraham Lincoln and his murder. But, there is an interesting story about his assassination that few know and director Robert Redford shines the spotlight on it in The Conspirator. With a superb cast and a story that is suspenseful and fascinating, this film is a courtroom drama with historical authenticity and atmosphere on its side.
After Lincoln’s murder, it wasn’t just John Wilkes Booth who was held accountable. He may have pulled the trigger, but a whole group helped plan it. Seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, the Vice-President, and the Secretary of State. The lone woman’s name is Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), who owns a boarding house where Booth and the others had their meetings and planned their attacks.
With the entire nation wanting her dead, it is up to her lawyer, Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), who is reluctant because he fought for the Union during the Civil War and wants revenge for Lincoln’s death just as much as everyone else. But once the trial begins, Aiken realizes she may be innocent and all of this might be occurring in order to capture the last conspirator who escaped, Mary’s son, John Surratt (Johnny Simmons).
Redford puts together an old-fashioned, historical courtroom film that keeps you guessing whether she is guilty or not, and what will happen to her and if her son will come to her rescue. It is an interesting story that is crucial but practically unknown to most of us. And the trial of Surratt says a lot about our judicial system back then through today. People have their own agendas and more times than we would like to admit, there are people who are already viewed as guilty before they ever say a word. Redford made a film about a specific time period but it still has relevance today.
There are strong supporting performances from Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, and Evan Rachel Wood, but McAvoy and Wright bring the emotion and honesty to the film. Wright plays a woman who will not back down. She appears to be calm and at peace on the outside. But on the inside, she is crying for help even if it seems to be nowhere in sight. She is forced in to a position to not only prove her innocence but to protect her son at the same time.
McAvoy plays a war hero who is conflicted when it comes to representing the “enemy.” He wants there to be justice for his President’s murder, but he also works for the law. And while he has his mind made up about Surratt before he even meets her, he is her only hope. The more he fights for her to uncover the truth about what happened, friends and colleagues begin to turn on him as well. Before he knows it, it is just them two against everyone else. That is a tough fight for anyone to win.
The Conspirator is a solid, educational, immersing, and entertaining film. It sticks to its history which helps its believability. And with engaging performances by McAvoy and Wright, Redford makes us understand that Lincoln’s assassination was just the beginning.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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