GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

katiebee09 I watched the trailer for this film and was blown away by the powerful emotion and story conveyed. The problem when I watched the actual film was the lack of momentum. Instead of being swept up in a moving drama that had me glued to my seat as I expected, the flow of the story was continually interrupted by jumping back and forth between present and past. I didn't care for the way the story was laid out. There were brilliant moments of acting, there were moving moments of passion and conviction, but overall I was unimpressed. The little detours of personal life and politics detracted from the momentum rather than helping to build it.I thought it was a good film. It just wasn't the great film I'd anticipated. Definitely some fantastic actors to enjoy; Benedict Cumberbatch and Ioan Gruffudd had great chemistry and offer wonderful performances.

blanche-2 It's always inspiring to see or read about someone who is passionate about what they believe, and act on that passion. William Wilberforce was one of these people. He fought tirelessly for the abolition of slavery in 18th century England as well as for humane treatment of animals (which is really only mentioned in the film).Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffud) was a member of Parliament who was encouraged to take up the fight against slavery in the British Empire by William Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch), Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell), and Hannah Moore (George Glen). Since this position went against the interests of trade, Wilberforce became very unpopular very quickly.Though it's a noble fight and he is able to tell about the brutality the slaves suffer, and the poor conditions under which they live, his campaign falls on mostly deaf ears. Physically ill with what we now know as Crohn's disease, eventually he gives up hope of changing anything. But basically he just takes a break and goes back to it, stronger than ever. This is in part thanks to his wife, Barbara (Romola Garai). This time he has more allies and eventually, in 1807, he wins.This is a powerful story told with great attention to the period detail and outstanding performances, particularly by Gruffud, Cumberbatch, Michael Gambon, and Albert Finney. Everyone is excellent, including Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, and the beautiful Garai, but Gambon and Finney to me had the showiest roles. Gruffud is awesome in the way he captures the passion that Wilberforce had, and the way he suffered physically as well as emotionally.There is some license taken in the film -- John Newton (Finney) plays an ex-slave trader who helps Wilberforce to detail the horrible treatment of slaves -- he wrote the lyrics to Amazing Grace, but the melody was not added until much later. Still, it's a very effective part of the film.Very well done and highly recommended.

antonjsw1 This is a very powerful drama that keeps the viewer totally captivated through to the films emotional climax. The story is a fictionalised dramatisation of the career of reforming politician William Wilberforce and his intention to pass legislation in government to abolish slavery in the British Empire. He is played with a tour de force performance by Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd. Gruffudd is ably supported by an outstanding ensemble case, though particular mention has to go to actor Benedict Cumberbatch for his equally outstanding performance as fellow politician (and future prime minister) and best friend of Wilberforce William Pitt. Pitt's character is the pragmatist, and a wheeler-dealer, but Wilberforce is the more straightforward (if naive) character, who truly believes that the strength of the argument will win the day, and after some 20 years of trying, he finally achieves this. What is interesting about the film is that the main strength of the film is almost entirely down to excellent performances. British director Michael Apted is known for his films being primarily character based. While Charles Wood's production design, veteran Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan's (Gosford Park, Cranford and the King's Speech among her other credits), photographer Remi Adefarasin's and composer David Arnold's contributions are all first rate, this film is driven by Steve Knight's excellent script and outstanding acting performances of the entire cast. It is a real pleasure so see such skill from everyone in the cast, and how the actors all play off each other is really impressive. While the film is set at the turn of the 19th century, and therefore the film projects an appropriate atmosphere, the actors do play their roles in a way the feels real and totally accessible to an audience. It is known that Apted is renowned for creating a working environment that draws out good acting performances, and this is film is in the category of his best achievements in this regard, ranking alongside films such as Coal Miner's Daughter, Nell and Gorillas in the Mist. The film has no action to speak of, and Apted focuses the story on performance and dialogue rather, with mise-en-scene important but not the most important aspect of any sequence. However the film moves at a quick pace and sustains total interest throughout. Even actors in relatively smaller roles give outstanding performances, most notably Albert Finney as penitent former slaver turned monk John Newton and interest never sags. There are emotionally powerful moments, amusing and subtly comedic moments, exciting moments, sad moments, but all leading towards the films hugely emotional and enormously satisfying conclusion. The film is fairly straightforward in construction, though some of the changes of time-line are sometimes ambiguous and not easy to follow on the first viewing, but the film draws you in despite this minor gripe and will leave you touched and emotionally satisfied if you give a chance.

James Hitchcock Michael Apted is a versatile director who has made some very different films in a number of different genres, including biopics ("Gorillas in the Mist"), neo-noir ("Gorky Park") and action thrillers ("The World Is Not Enough"). Some of his films, such as "Nell", resist classification by genre. With "Amazing Grace" he returns to the "heritage cinema" genre, having earlier made other period dramas such as "Agatha" and "Enigma". It is a biography of William Wilberforce, who led the campaign against the slave trade in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th century. The title refers to the well-known hymn written by John Newton, another member of the anti-slavery movement. The film is set during the period between 1782, when Wilberforce presented his first anti-slavery bill to the House of Commons, and 1807, when legislation outlawing the slave-trade was finally passed. (Slavery itself, however, remained legal in British colonies until the 1830s). The film also deals with Wilberforce's personal life, including his battle against ill-health and his romance with and eventual marriage to Barbara Spooner. It went on general release on February 23, 2007, the 200th anniversary of the date the British parliament voted to pass the Slave Trade Act.In my view Apted's films vary widely in quality as well as in genre, "Nell" being one of the best films of the last couple of decades and "Enough" one of the worst. "Amazing Grace" is somewhere near the middle of this scale. It is not as good as "Nell" or "Gorillas in the Mist", but far better than the awful "Enough" or the dull "Agatha". It is a handsome, well-made costume drama which gives a good picture of life during the period in which it is set, although there are a few errors. (The Duke of Clarence (the future King William IV), for example, did not sit in the House of Commons (as he is shown doing here), but in the House of Lords). Ioan Gruffudd is excellent in the leading role, as are Albert Finney as Newton, Michael Gambon as Wilberforce's ally, the wily Charles James Fox, and Benedict Cumberbatch as the equally devious Prime Minister William Pitt. Although Pitt is sympathetic to the anti-slavery cause, for political reasons he is unable to attack the trade publicly. (The system of political patronage and rotten boroughs which prevailed at the time meant that many Members of Parliament were in the pockets of those with vested interests in the slave-trade). Pitt therefore uses Wilberforce as his public mouthpiece.Nevertheless, I felt that the film has something missing. It gives the impression that slavery was something to be discussed in the abstract by a group of well-to-do white politicians sitting in London. There is only one black character in the film, the former slave Olaudah Equiano, and there are no scenes which show the reality of slavery or the slave-trade. There is a brief reference to a slave revolt in Haiti, but this is the only recognition of resistance to slavery among the slaves themselves.This objection goes further than mere political correctness, which is doubtless how some will dismiss it. It would have made for a better film had it showed not merely the Parliamentary campaign against the evils of slavery but also something to indicate why that campaign needed to be fought. Wilberforce's ally Newton had himself been the captain of a slave ship before he underwent a religious conversion and became an ordained priest in the Anglican Church. As shown in the film, he was to be haunted throughout his long life by guilt over the part he had played in the slave trade. I couldn't help thinking, in fact, that his life might have made the basis of a more dramatic film than Wilberforce's.Apted said that he did not set out to make another film such as "Amistad" or "Roots". I will not attempt to compare a feature film like "Amazing Grace" with a television series such as "Roots", but I felt that if Apted had indeed set out to make a film more like "Amistad", which deals with both the white abolitionist movement and with the black victims of slavery, the end result might have been better. 7/10