Dinner and a Movie: The Conspirator

A couple of weeks ago we were at a loss for what to do on date night.  I had really wanted to go see the Bloch exhibit at BYU, but it had been out of tickets for weeks.  What to do, what to do?  There were no new blockbuster movies out, truthfully we hadn't even heard of any of the movies playing.

So, we rolled the dice.  We watched the trailers on YouTube, and Jeff told me to pick one.  These are the two we were choosing from:




I picked The Conspirator, knowing it might not be Jeff's pick, but unable to resist the pull of a historical tale.  I LOVE history.  I find the stories of our past fascinating.  I love understanding what drove people to make the choices they made, and how ordinary lives and everyday choices shaped our past and present.

History gets a bad rap, people complain it's boring, it's just a lot of memorization of dates and facts.   That's not the subject, that's just a poor teacher.  If you've ever had a talented, passionate History teacher you know what I'm talking about.  History lives and breathes, history fascinates me.  Enough, this isn't a post about why History is better than English or Math, it's a movie review-or at least it is supposed to be.

This is the story of Mary Surrat, who was charged as one of the conspirators in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln. It is her boarding house where Booth met with his co-conspirators to plan the assassinations of President Lincoln, the Vice President, and the Secretary of State.  Her son escapes capture, and the government arrests her when they can not find him, hoping to draw the son out of hiding.  She is tried by a military tribunal, with a lawyer who takes the case under duress, and with little to no chance to prepare a defense.

It is directed by Robert Redford, and I'm sure was meant to bring political parallels to some current events.  I didn't care, I loved the characters and the story they told.

It fascinated me.  It bored my husband to tears.  So, this one gets a mixed review-if you don't love history you  may not love this movie.  It moved too slowly for him, and had little excitement or drama that he felt drawn to.  I couldn't get enough, it could have gone on for another hour.  Yes, I'm a nerd.  I know. I don't care.