Amazing Grace

Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, Romola Garai

Dir. Michael Apted
Scr. Steven Knight

I suspect I’m probably going to hell for this, but Amazing Grace is far from being a brilliant movie. So many have raved about it – how moral it is, how inspiring and how, well, amazing. But I think people too easily automatically equate inspirational subject matter with an inspirational film. Yes, the story of William Wilberforce is a great one, but this is not a great film.

Amazing Grace follows the parliamentary life of Wilberforce, elected in 1790 at the tender age of 21, who went on to not only be instrumental in abolishing the slave trade in the UK but also set up what we now call the RSPCA, spearhead prison and education reforms and generally make the UK a better place. He was truly an amazing man. This film focuses on his early parliamentary life, his continuing failure to bring about the abolition of slavery, his illness and hopelessness, and his eventual success in 1807 with the passing of the Slave Trade Act.

I feel confident that I haven’t given anything away. And the reason I feel confident of that is because the trailer had already spoilt so many aspects of this film. I know this is not a fault of the movie itself or those who made it, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed by the fact that I had seen a very comprehensive synopsis when I first saw the trailer. And because of this, the movie held very few surprises – I knew most of the best lines, most of the plot twists, most of the best scenes. It was FRUSTRATING, to say the least.

But putting the travesty of the trailer aside, Amazing Grace suffered from an annoyingly non-linear telling, a few dud performances, and a general lacklustre. Some scenes weren’t allowed to develop fully; there were too many jumps that made it feel like you are watching a made-for-TV special with the ads cut out. At times, it was simply tedious. And it shouldn’t be, not with the subject matter on offer. And, most importantly, I didn’t cry. And I should have.

Some of the performances are excellent. Albert Finney (as John Newton, the man who wrote the song that gives this movie its title) and Michael Gambon (as Lord Charles Fox) are predictable standouts. Gambon especially steals every scene he is in with ease. I was very impressed by Cumberbatch, who plays Pitt the Younger. He was brilliant and perhaps had the most interesting and complicated journey of all – where Wilberforce never had to compromise his position and beliefs, Pitt had to change his behaviour and curb his ideals once he became Prime Minister and had so much more pressure on him and more people to answer to. A very compelling and nuanced performance.

I was less impressed by Gruffudd, who played the lead character. Granted, it’s a hard role to play – Wilberforce was extremely single-minded and, while visionary, must have been a tedious dinner companion. I also thought Gruffudd had a harder time playing old, broken and ill Wilberforce than he did playing young, idealistic Wilberforce. Garai, as Barbara (who becomes Mrs Wilberforce), was just downright terrible.

While there are some scenes and performances in this film which are worth the price of admission, overall I was disappointed by Amazing Grace. I was disappointed that I had already seen most of it in the trailer. I was disappointed that it jumped about and couldn’t stay focussed. But mostly I was disappointed that it didn’t move me more. It had the potential to. In fact, it downright should have.

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Barbara: It seems to me, that if there is a bad taste in your mouth, you spit it out. You don't constantly swallow it back.