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Appaloosa Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Amazing Grace
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MPAA RATING: PG for thematic material involving slavery, and some mild language
Starring Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Gambon, Romola Garai, Ciarán Hinds, and Toby Jones
Amazing Grace is based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce, who, as a Member of Parliament, navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. (Samuel Goldwyn Films LLC)
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: | Steven Knight |
| DIRECTED BY: | Michael Apted |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: November 13, 2007 Theatrical: February 23, 2007 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 111 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | UK / USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jared B. gave it a10:
I have been hearing nothing but good things about this movie since it came out. Now that I've seen it, I can tell you that all these things are true. This is a wonderful story. As a Christian, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of time the film spent mentioning God. I especially loved when John Newton made the comment, "I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great savior." This was a very powerful film. Finally, I have a note for the academy. In my opinion, this film deserves no less than two nominations: first as Best Picture and also Albert Finney as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of John Newton. Go pick this film up as soon as possible.
Arna S. gave it a10:
Great movie, Great message!! One that we all should watch!! Loved it!
Del & Sharon gave it a9:
This is one of the most outstanding films I've viewed in a long time. The story of what it took one man and his growing band of supporters to change a culture and slave based industry, is insightful and inspiring too. The drama and developement of strength of character in Mr,Wilberforce is profound in it's contrast to todays politics of self centered and pathetic compromising as well as echoing of and pandering to the code of 'real dealism'
Steve S. gave it an8:
It may not suffice as entertainment in the anti-intellectual culture of the 21st Century, but it is an important movie for its messages. I explicitly said messages, because there is a great myth-breaking expose being revealed along with its anti-slavery message. This true story helps illuminate the relationship between evangelical Christianity and the great progressive triumphs of the 18th and 19th centuries and hopefully dispels some of the ignorant assumptions held today about religion and social change. Wilberforce, along with John Wesley, John Newton and many others were able to eradicate much evil in their societies because of their faith in God and I applaud the filmakers for honestly portraying this.
Andrew K. gave it a6:
I thought this was a pretty average film. Not bad, not great (I guess that would leave "good" as a description, but I wouldn't exactly call it required viewing). I think most people have either given this film way too good of a review, or have been way too harsh. It's really straight down the middle. Most of the movies out right now are utter crap, so if you want to see something that is worth your time, this would be a good one to see. Some good points have been made about the lack of actual slaves in the film, and it struck me as odd that I barely noticed. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I believed these characters to be very far away from the subject which they were addressing. I don't know if it's historically accurate, but I think their absense helped enforce the feeling that many of the men in parliament COULD be incredibly detached from the lives of those they were impacting. An inspiring film? I guess. If you haven't seen a lot of films like this before. Or if you are inspired by every single movie that sets out to inspire. It's nothing new. It IS a story that I was unfamiliar with, and I'm glad to have learned something about it, if not in great detail. All of the acting was superb. Nothing to complain about there. Sometimes the dialogue was a little too precious, but not often enough to make me gag. I thought it was interesting how they chose to end the film with Amazing Grace being played by...a band? I'm not sure what term to use. Anyway, it was different. You first see clips of all of the actors with their name and their character's names, and then you're actually watching the...band...play in front of...I think it was Westminster Abbey. And I wasn't too sure whether they were supposed to be within the context of the film, or if it was present day. But it didn't really matter. Anyway, I could take it or leave it. You should too.
Steve & Betty S. gave it a9:
Well done! The dark side and light side of this movie could have both been overdone, but they weren't. We were thoroughly engrossed by it. Ioan Gruffudd was up to the task of carrying the load of the story. The society of the time was an essential character, and the filmmakers handled its complexities well. My one quibble is with Romola Garai: while she was good, she was a little too precious about it, and you could see her acting (as opposed to seeing Mrs. Wilberforce).
Chad S. gave it a5:
As William Wilberforce(Ioan Gruffudd) lectures from aboard the slave-ship Madagascar, his floating audience(they're in an adjacent rowboat) cover their noses with handkerchiefs. Wilberforce instructs them to remove their cloths and breathe in "the smell of death". "Amazing Grace", however, holds its own nose to the historical stench of forced labor by largely keeping slavery off-screen. The only major black character, Oloudaqh(Youssou N'Dour), doesn't even get to speak. In a film about his ancestry, N'Dour is almost a token. He doesn't even get to sing the title song(at least Mahalia Jackson sings in Douglas Sirk's "Imitation of Life"). Worst yet, Oloudaqh is a profiteer(his slave narrative sells 50,000 copies). He has no rousing "give me free" moment(Djimon Honsou in "Amistad"), just a few silent tears rolling down his cheek. So we're largely stuck with the do-gooder Wilberforce, who is undoubtedly a great man; but as written in this well-meaning film, this earnest samaritan is more symbol than man. It's flaws that brings a character to life. Oskar Schindler was a womanizer. Wilberforce had bad stomach aches. He also says irritating things like, "How can we live in houses like this, while they live in boxes." "Amazing Grace" has one very effective flashback that shows how ugly institutionalized racism is; but it's not enough, not if you're going to canonize Wilberforce with a standing ovation as the musical score swells into histrionics. After all, Wilberforce never actually had to wear those manacles and leg braces.
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