| 91 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
An unusually satisfying and inspiring historical epic from one of contemporary cinema's best filmmakers.
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| 88 |
Charlotte Observer
The movie is the usual kind of film biography of a respected figure from the distant past - honorable, oversimplified, handsome.
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| 80 |
Salon.com
In the first 10 minutes, I feared the picture would be dull and earnest -- until, about a half-hour later, I realized it was lively and earnest, and also refreshingly, unapologetically movielike.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Fortunately, director Michael Apted and his team understand the challenges of this kind of story and have met them with intelligence and energy.
|
| 75 |
TV Guide
A workmanlike piece of storytelling elevated by fine performances.
|
| 75 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Unlike its subject, Amazing Grace won't change the world, but its quasi-religious sense of conviction proves rousing. Apted's unexpected crowd-pleaser is inspirational, but also surprisingly entertaining.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Anyone who has ever felt morally right and completely in the minority will have a point of entry into this movie.
|
| 75 |
New York Post
This is the British way to mingle ideas and entertainment.
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| 75 |
Miami Herald
Apted delivers a fine, righteous climax and packs his film with some of Britain's best character actors.
|
| 75 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Apted opts not to show the horrendous cruelty inflicted on thousands upon thousands of captive Africans, shackled and chained, making their way to the Americas in ships. Instead, he has Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists describe the inhumane conditions - in the precise, passionate language of legislators who believe that human decency is more important than money and power.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
Compelling and highly informative.
|
| 70 |
The New Republic
The dialogue is bright, historically styled yet lithe; the characterizations are graphic even with minor people.
|
| 70 |
New York Magazine
Michael Apted's Amazing Grace is a beautifully chiseled blunt instrument. No, it's not subtle, but how subtle was slavery?
|
| 70 |
Variety
Picture reflects the no-nonsense storytelling skills of prolific helmer Michael Apted, whose career-long mix of feature and documentary work holds him in good stead once more.
|
| 70 |
Wall Street Journal
A case of good works done well.
|
| 70 |
Chicago Reader
Flawed but ambitious, this biopic of British parliamentarian William Wilberforce closely tracks the political maneuvering of the late 18th and early 19th century as reformers campaign to end Britain's participation in the slave trade.
|
| 70 |
The New York Times
The overall effect is part BBC-style biography, part Hollywood-like hagiography, and generally pleasing and often moving, even when the story wobbles off the historical rails or becomes bogged down in dopey romance.
|
| 67 |
Baltimore Sun
Although the structure is clunky, the ensuing parliamentary machinations prove witty and fascinating.
|
| 63 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
What's missing, in the direction no less than the script, is any real sense of dramatic urgency.
|
| 63 |
ReelViews
It's disappointing that so much talent has been assembled with so little to do.
|
| 60 |
Empire
Helen O'Hara
There's so much story here that the characters don't have quite enough room to breathe, but it's still a fascinating look at a time, and a man, worth remembering.
|
| 58 |
Entertainment Weekly
Gregory Kirschling
It's earnest, solemn stuff. The movie sings an old tune -- Albert Finney is the blind minister who wrote the title ditty -- and it leaves the blood unstirred.
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| 50 |
Village Voice
Ella Taylor
Morally irreproachable and flat as a pancake.
|
| 50 |
Austin Chronicle
Josh Rosenblatt
Unfortunately for Barbara and for us, what makes William Wilberforce a great man is also what makes him a bore.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
Apted and his collaborators are so in awe of their subject they neglect to bring him to full human life.
|
| 50 |
Premiere
Earnest, respectful and thoroughly dull.
|
| 50 |
Washington Post
If Amazing Grace serves its most superficial purpose -- to educate the viewer -- it's hardly compelling viewing.
|
| 50 |
Boston Globe
It's a doughty movie, stuck halfway between Masterpiece Theatre and Classics Illustrated, but, to his credit, gifted journeyman director Michael Apted understands he's playing the long game.
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| 42 |
Christian Science Monitor
[Apted] also has an unfortunate penchant for bland stateliness, and never more so than in Amazing Grace, a well-intentioned piece of historical waxworks.
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