The Conspirator (2:02) 2010

The Conspirator is the story of Mary Surratt, tried by a military tribunal as one of the conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Mary, portrayed by Robin Wright, was a Southern owner of a Washington, D.C. boarding house. She and her adult children were Southern sympathizers with John Wilkes Booth was a frequent visitor to the her boarding house. Booth, her son John and other Southern men had frequent meetings behind closed doors. After the assassination, Mary was arrested and imprisoned. Fred Aiken, a young lawyer and a former Union captain wounded in action, was assigned to be her defense attorney. Aiken first believes she is guilty but later changes his mind. Aiken, played by James McAvoy, realizes that he is fighting an uphill battle. Aiken truly believes that Mary has a legal right to a trial by a jury of her peers. This is a movie for history bluffs but it does keep your attention throughout the movie. My children, Liz and Patrick, and my Aunt Irene all went and we talked about the movie the entire way home. Robert Redford is the director and this movie, while getting less than enthusiastic movie, tells a compelling story one that is just as relevant today as it was a 150 years ago.