Some of the beards were out there, but I think they got Chamberlain spot on. Jeff Daniels did a good job in portraying him. He did a good job in portraying George Washington in another movie.
You are so right about the beards. Looked more like high school drama club stage props that real facial hair. Jeff Daniels did a good job, you can't help but like the guy, but there was one scene that made me cringe, when he was giving his “why we must fight but I'm not going to punish you if you don't” speech to the unit of soldiers that was refusing to fight beyond their enlistment. It was just hokey. Wasn't his fault though, he didn't write the lines.