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'Grace' chronicles politician’s slavery fight
Movie Review: Amazing Grace
By John Wirt
jwirt@theadvocate.com
Advocate movie critic
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The historical drama Amazing Grace chronicles a great man whom many of us probably never knew existed. William Wilberforce, elected to Britain’s House of Commons at 21 in the late 18th century, became the British Empire’s foremost abolitionist. Amazing Grace follows his years of struggle to rid the empire of slavery, a practice initially widely accepted in Britain and championed as economic necessity.
Helmed by Michael Apted, the British director whose previous films include the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner’s Daughter and James Bond installment, The World Is Not Enough, this biopic of Wilberforce is nothing fancy. Despite its basic though authentic Masterpiece Theatre look, it’s got an exceptional, mostly British cast plus some stirring scenes and British wit.
Without going overboard, Ioan Gruffudd (The Fantastic Four) presents a passionate yet realistic Wilberforce. A Christian humanist, Wilberforce’s devotion to justice and his belief that all men are created equal compels him to unleash his idealism upon an unreceptive world.
Amazing Grace opens in 1797, a dark time in Wilberforce’s life. Having campaigned for his cause without success for years, he’s an ill, broken man. From here, the film flashes back to Wilberforce’s brave and innovative attempts to convince Parliament and the British public of the immorality of slavery.
The flashback format is the movie’s biggest flaw. Because the flashbacks are so long and they don’t dovetail smoothly into the present, viewers may lose their sense of time and place. Better to have told the story chronologically. Nonetheless, a cast including thespian heavyweights Albert Finney, Michael Gambon and Rufus Sewell, steady focus upon the protagonist’s goal and some spot on matchmaking by Wilberforce’s affectionate cousins keep things moving.
Of special note is Finney and his portrayal of John Newton, the former slave ship captain who entered the ministry, composed the classic hymn “Amazing Grace” and became Wilberforce’s mentor in abolitionism. Newton, as he describes himself in the film, is a man haunted by the ghosts of 20,000 Africans.
Because of its political nature, there are speeches in Amazing Grace, but they don’t drone on and they’re not bloated showcases for Wilberforce or his opponents. True to the political theater still practiced in Britain’s Parliament, the film’s House of Commons debates are actually entertaining.
Amazing Grace may not accomplish the depth of poignancy inherent in its subject, but it’s a steady effort that hits its target. There’s something classically British about this straightforward depiction, an approach that likewise fits these characters. At any rate, if this were a Masterpiece Theatre offering, it would be some particularly good Sunday evening entertainment.
