Killing Lincoln
National Geographic | Release Date: February 17, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
NewsdayVerne GayFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: Engaging docudrama with lots of interesting detail. Worth watching. Read full review
80
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: If Mr. Spielberg’s "Lincoln" achieves greatness largely through the detailed performances of Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and others, Killing Lincoln also has details to recommend it--historical details, the kind of tidbits that (along with Mr. Hanks’s assured narration) can hold your attention, even though the tale is familiar. Read full review
80
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Nat Geo movie is a thoroughly entertaining, exciting docudrama. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: Much of the time, this production plays out like an educational-film reenactment instead of a big-budget film.... Killing Lincoln is most effective in conveying just how determined Booth was. Read full review
75
RedEyeCurt WagnerFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: As fascinating as the minutiae are, fine work by the cast makes me wish this had been a fully scripted miniseries. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyFeb 19, 2013
Season 1 Review: Killing Lincoln gives us some of the lost minutia of the event. Those factoids, like the disappearance of the one autopsy photo of Booth, are intriguing. It’s only the TV-drama flourishes that aren’t. Read full review
50
Kansas City StarSara SmithFeb 19, 2013
Season 1 Review: If the film sins against history, it's in the many omissions of intriguing minutiae that made the book worthwhile. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: It's a good refresher course, but not a hugely gripping one. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: Nothing new is revealed in the National Geographic Channel's first scripted special, Killing Lincoln. But that doesn't mean the decently written and adequately performed docudrama is unwelcome. Read full review
50
Uncle BarkyEd BarkFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: It's much more a bare-bones recitation, with some interesting sidelights in the telling. Read full review
50
Washington PostHank StueverFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: Only when it has 20 minutes left to live does Killing Lincoln knock it off with the hokey structure and melodrama and let the story itself take charge. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraFeb 19, 2013
Season 1 Review: Killing Lincoln wears its historical accuracy like a ball and chain, clunking where it should inspire, dragging where it should pulse with dread. Read full review
40
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinFeb 19, 2013
Season 1 Review: The most interesting thing about Killing Lincoln, in fact, is how it can be so tepidly uninteresting. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanFeb 15, 2013
Season 1 Review: Much of the history is spoken, not seen, and though Campbell does the best he can with his role, the docudrama seems thin and disconnected--as if the scripted, acted parts are merely in service of Hanks’ narration. Read full review
30
PopMattersJ.C. Macek IIIFeb 19, 2013
Season 1 Review: The result is disappointing, sensationalistic and silly. Read full review
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