The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies
Best of Boston 2009

Amazing Grace

Polite under fire
By JUSTINE ELIAS  |  February 21, 2007
2.5 2.5 Stars
phxcinema#Amazing_Grace#')

Michael Apted’s stirring if conventional bio-pic of 18th-century British abolitionist William Wilberforce offers rum, funneled into anti-slavery PM William Pitt the Younger (Benedict Cumberbatch), and sugar, in the form of the hero’s adoring wife, Barbara (Romola Garai). This is polite England, so Middle Passage horrors remain veiled: slave turned memoirist Oloudaqh Equiano a/k/a “Gustavus” (Youssou N’Dour) is silenced until the end credits. As Wilberforce, Ioan Griffudd (The Fantastic Four) conveys the charisma of a righteous hero. Just how he outmaneuvers his enemies becomes a cynical surprise, especially in a bio-pic financed by fundamentalist tycoon Philip Anschutz of Walden Media. Don’t go seeking answers here as to where God is when humanity countenances atrocity; that’s for another film to deal with. Better ones, like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. For now, there’s Wilberforce exacting moral justice without going berserk.
Related: Review: Che, What We Do Is Secret, Review: Bronson, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Benedict Cumberbatch, Biopics, Entertainment,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

UNSEXY 2009
Unsexy_09-top-All
Today's Event Picks
-->
ARTICLES BY JUSTINE ELIAS
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: JUSTINE ELIAS

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group