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Movie Review: Amazing Grace is and Amazing Film
By Irene Maslanik '07
STAFF WRITER

When I set out to write my movie review for this month, my intention was to write about Blades of Glory. As many of you may know, Blades of Glory is Will Ferrell and John Heder’s first collaboration and profiles the lives of two male figure skaters. It is a fantastic movie, especially if you are closet fan of the Winter Olympics or another skating movie great Cutting Edge (yes, I have it on DVD). However, last weekend I saw Amazing Grace in Washington, D.C. with my mom and I am inspired.

Amazing Grace is a film about a real people and the director, Michael Apted, actually allows his charactors to age and die, not with the grace of Hollywood touch-ups but with gritty reality. Amazing Grace profiles the struggles of William Wilberforce, the man who spearheaded the abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom.

A long roster of talented British actors appears as the people who influenced his life. Albert Finney almost steals the show as the crusty ship-captain-turned-monk who teaches and inspires Wilberforce.

I did a little research about William Wilberforce and the movie seems relatively accurate. Wilberforce’s story is inspiring to say the least and definitely entertains.

Ioan Gruffudd plays Wilberforce, endowing him with humanity and making him effortlessly real and approachable. Wilberforce asks his servants to feed the poor and the nobility alike. His butler, like many characters in the film, provides quiet support of his master as well as gives him staunch respect.

In one scene where Wilberforce struggles with the decision between taking up a cause and living a life devoted to God, his butler quotes Sir Francis Bacon to him, revealing “I don’t just dust your books.” Wilberforce’s best friend William Pitt also serves as a source of sarcastic escape. Pitt, who becomes Prime Minister in the course of the film, is a consummate politician, who propels his friend into the fight for abolition, but later abandons him in turmoil of war with France.

Beneath the greater message about the abolition of slavery, Amazing Grace tells a story about relationships between friends, lovers, cousins, and enemies. Wilberforce is at the center and his relationships with the people in his life add nuance integrity to this film. As he meets each of the people who will affect the course of his life, the audience feels inspired alongside Wilberforce.

Gruffudd anchors the movie with his intense and completely real portrayal of William Wilberforce and his chemistry with Romola Garai, who plays his wife and helpmate, is electric and captivating.

All in all, this film inspires the audience without being corny because of the air of reality, the excellent acting and the power of the relationships the characters share. This is a unique film filled with moments that are both genuine and amazing. A film like this should be required because it teaches (I know it seems a little cornball) that even the least of us can make a difference.