Cool News
Quint on Michael Apted's period abolitionist drama AMAZING GRACE from the Santa Barbara FF!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with my thoughts on the centerpiece film of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Michael Apted's AMAZING GRACE, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Mr. Fantastic himself.
I really, really, really didn't like this movie. I didn't like it much at all.
The idea isn't a bad one. The flick focuses on the political maneuverings of William Wilberforce in 1800s Britain. He tirelessly tried to ban the slave trade and started as a lone voice in the parliament and ended up leading the majority in abolishing slavery in Britain. Whoops... spoiler... in case you didn't know that they still don't buy and sell black people in the UK.
Ioan Gruffudd... I'm not a fan of his Mr. Fantastic. He doesn't come across as a bad actor, but he's woefully miscast in that film. I was very open to him being good in a non-Tim Story movie, though, so I didn't go in rooting against him. He tries. He really does, but the script just isn't up to snuff. Really... I kept expecting to see Ricky Gervais and Maggie from EXTRAS pop up in the background wearing curly white wigs. It feels so stuffy and fake. There's literally a moment in the movie where Gruffudd walks towards camera and begins a reminiscence. "Remember Cambridge..."
The supporting cast is more than solid. Michael Gambon brings some great energy to the screen as Lord Charles Fox, a prominent Parliament member. Albert Finney is great in his 3 or 4 scenes as John Newton, mentor to Wilberforce and ex-slave ship captain. He's now a monk and he wrote the song Amazing Grace, his way of confessing to his sins. Toby Jones (INFAMOUS) also brings some humor and life into an otherwise stagey and dull film.
The biggest problems in the script is we are told and not shown. We hear speech after speech of how inhumane the slave ship transfer to the Americas or Britain is to the Africans, hear all about the disease and beatings and deaths. But we never see it, even when Wilberforce tricks a handful of Parliament members to seeing a slave ship we are just told how bad it smells and that is the reason why these rich, white women begin crying.
To a worse extent we skim over big plot points and just suddenly find ourselves years in the future, seeing the end of a big thread just barely begun. Wait a minute... why's that dude on this death bed? What happened? So, did they vote yet... is this something new? It's confusing and would be frustrating in a good movie, but here I just kept hanging on because I liked seeing Gambon and Finney pop up and it is Michael Apted. He deserves a full viewing, even if I felt it hard to sit through.
I liked screenwriter Stephen Knight's previous script, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS and he's scripting David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, which looks very promising, so hopefully this film is the exception, the good idea that just didn't work as a script.
Looks like it's coming out later this month from Walden Media and Samuel Goldwyn films. I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to catch it.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
-
+ Expand All
-
The lack of depiction of the actual slaves sounds like an unwise bit of budget trimming.
I hope this isn't first. First posters suck...
-
Now I have to hate myself even more...
-
you misspelled abolitionist! before anyone sees, quick change the title and remove my post so no one can know.
-
John Newton was never a monk, he was a Church of England Pastor. and also, man, Usually your reviews are a lot better written, more concise this seems like you had other problems with it that you didn't want to get into so either your tired from the Sundance/SB film festivals, you're on overload, there's more to this film y ou didn't like but you don't want to go into or you're just phoning this review in. I've been following this movie for some time now and it looks and sounds interesting to me personally, a side we very rarely see and I know it addresses Wilberforce's faith pretty strongly. Is that you're problem was it porly shot, or just what...comeon go into more depth.
-
Another white person saves the minority movie, how lovely.
-
Of how "Amazing Grace" was written by a slave-ship captain who had deep remorse, and then reformed. What I don't get from the trailer for this film is any sense of the terrible beauty of that story. It looks instead to be the story of some political hotshot seizing this issue the way a John Grisham hero seizes upon a case. With the really lousy contemporary rendition of the song over the beginning of the trailer, I realized the film that should exist, does not, and that this film will set back the chances of having that film. ... The Toussaint L'overture story getting made is where I'll stake my hopes. The Braveheart of slavery, basically.
-
Brandon...shut up, it's a true story and you're a troll...now why am I addressing you, i don't know..moving ons story and one ona slave who helped too
-
Aside from a few inaccuracies in this film (such as Newton wrote Amazing Grace while still a slaver), a few things left out (such as Wilberforce stopped the British trade in slaves from Africa, but did not abolish slavery in England, or that his policies lead to the War of 1812 because U.S. ships where seized as suspected slavers), my feelings were that this came across as a decent A&E film. This was not a brilliant film, certainly not an exciting film. There really is not much here to enjoy, even the performance by Rufus Sewell, though very different was not terribly dynamic. Was anyone dynamic during the early Victorian period? If you must watch this, catch it on cable.
-
The movie was awesome.
-
unlike you're review stating it took place in the 1800's. Did you really see this film? The casting was perfect.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 273 total posts 271 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 92 total posts 92 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 69 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 151 total posts 63 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 67 total posts 59 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 60 total posts 57 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 484 total posts 49 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 69 total posts 42 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 120 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 183 total posts 24 posts