Featured Audience Ratings

• Thomas B

  
  Not as memorable as you'd think but a good film nonetheless. Full review later.

• familiar s

  
  A chapter from history which is APTly supported by great performances from the actors involved, but not fluently adAPTed for the screen by Michael Apted.

• Carlos M

  
  This historical biopic boasts the perfect material to create a quintessential modern classic, but unfortunately it lacks soul and intensity, resulting in a rather dull experience that doesn't quite live up to the importance of its real-life character.

• Lady D

  
  A story that rightfully deserves recognition for it's place in history and opens the eyes of those who do not realise exactly what people went through during the slave trade years. Both storyline and cast were worthy enough in the making of a great film, however admittedly, I… More
  A story that rightfully deserves recognition for it's place in history and opens the eyes of those who do not realise exactly what people went through during the slave trade years. Both storyline and cast were worthy enough in the making of a great film, however admittedly, I did find myself losing concentration in parts, despite the story being of great interest to me.

• Dan S

  
  Well-told story concerning William Wilberforce and his tenacity for getting legislature passed that would free Britain from supporting slavery. Ioan Gruffudd sells this movie with his roaring performance as a man whose passion would not die. It does at times get a little over-dramatic… More
  Well-told story concerning William Wilberforce and his tenacity for getting legislature passed that would free Britain from supporting slavery. Ioan Gruffudd sells this movie with his roaring performance as a man whose passion would not die. It does at times get a little over-dramatic (a scene with Gruffudd chopping wood...IN THE RAIN...), and it does feel longer than 110 minutes, but it's still a watchable movie due to great acting (Albert Finney nearly steals the show as John Newton), and an important lesson in world history.

• Anthony L

  
  A fantastic cast and some great acting, informative and well structured....just a bit too schmaltzy and sentimental though. Shame really, as the story is incredible, it just could and should have been better!

• Aliyanto L

  
  It's a 'history film' without being dull, and a 'religious film' without being preachy. But perhaps most of all, it's a movie that will convince any viewer that he or she can also make a difference in a sin-sick world desperately in need of social… More
  It's a 'history film' without being dull, and a 'religious film' without being preachy. But perhaps most of all, it's a movie that will convince any viewer that he or she can also make a difference in a sin-sick world desperately in need of social justice, mercy and compassion.

• danny d

  
  incredible and inspiring. brilliant acting and moving story telling of the life of william wilberforce. a story that all should know, and a movie that all should see.

• Shauna R

  
  I watched this film, as I have been studying the Slave Trade at school and wanted to expand my knowledge. I found this film very interesting, it did not lose my attention at any point. Ioan Gruffudd gives a brilliant performance and is very convincing as William Wilberforce. Also… More
  I watched this film, as I have been studying the Slave Trade at school and wanted to expand my knowledge. I found this film very interesting, it did not lose my attention at any point. Ioan Gruffudd gives a brilliant performance and is very convincing as William Wilberforce. Also giving good supporting roles are Michael Gambon, Albert Finney and Benedict Cumberbatch. Nicely directed with an excellent script, definately worth a view for history fans.

• Jeremy S

  
  The Blind, The Lost And The Found: "I once was blind but now I see, was lost but now am found?" goes the grand hymn Amazing Grace, written by an ex-slave trader John Newton, played by Albert Finney, who was haunted by the twenty thousand slaves he traded, left his life of… More
  The Blind, The Lost And The Found: "I once was blind but now I see, was lost but now am found?" goes the grand hymn Amazing Grace, written by an ex-slave trader John Newton, played by Albert Finney, who was haunted by the twenty thousand slaves he traded, left his life of sin and wrote one of Christianity?s greatest hymn. The hymn and the film Amazing Grace are a testimony to the power of grace to transform everything it touches, blindness to sight, the lost to the found, the slave to the free man. As is the life of William Wilberforce (played by Ioan Gruffold) a man of amazing grace who changed the world through his crusade to abolish the slave trade in England. It is this transformation of English law from enforcing the slave trade to abolishment by the grace and perseverance of one man that the film focuses on, delving into the details and nature of the slave trade, which made the British Empire the most powerful the world, had ever seen. However although the horrors of the slave trade are spelt out, discussed and even shown through diagrams and demonstrations, the actual seeing of the slave trade in action is not shown. Wether or not this adds or detracts from the merit of the film is debatable, yet the opportunity to illuminate the full horrors of the slave trade visually is defiantly missed as the audience has only an idea of the slave trade really was. We follow Wilberforce not through the bowels of the slave ships in trade, or through the plantations they worked or the jungles of Africa, from where most of the slaves came from but through the jungle of politics in the British parliament. A reoccurring theme in this struggle of Wilberforce is the clash between his spiritual life and political life, his idealism and the harsh realism of politics. His ability is blend his spiritual grace and political ability, his idealism and political realism ultimately lead to his victory, in which as Lord Fox (Michael Gambon) most admirably speaks of the true measure of a man, measured not by glory or power but by noble struggle in the cause of bettering the world, by which measure William Wilberforce is a truly great man. An edifying spiritual testimony to the power of grace.

• Bruce B

  
  This is a good one, tell's many facts about slavery that I did not know. Actors are outstanding. WISH i FOUND IT SOONER.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]"Amazing Grace" is an insipid movie about William Wilberforce(Ioan Gruffudd), a member of Parliament, and his role in the abolition of the slave trade which at the time was immensely profitable for the British Empire.(Abolition meaning one thing;… More
  [font=Century Gothic]"Amazing Grace" is an insipid movie about William Wilberforce(Ioan Gruffudd), a member of Parliament, and his role in the abolition of the slave trade which at the time was immensely profitable for the British Empire.(Abolition meaning one thing; enforcement quite another.) The movie is unfocused as it frames the slave trade in the broader subject of activism, only sporadically returning to the subject at hand and spending too much time on an irksome romantic subplot.(Okay, so it gets Romola Garai into the movie but still...) Starting in 1797, it flashes back to 1782, before returning to 1797, resulting in a clumsy and confusing chronology of events.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]What is most bothersome about "Amazing Grace" is that Gruffudd, eternally bland, fails to capture the dynamic personality of Wilberforce who could command a great deal of attention in his time. However, there are some nice character moments from Michael Gambon, Albert Finney and Toby Jones.[/font]

• Cameron J

  
  First it was "Me & Isaac Newton", and now Michael Apted is back for "Me & John Newton", or from what I can gather from this poster that fills Ioan Grufford up with so many pale-colored images that it looks like he's covered in fog, "William… More
  First it was "Me & Isaac Newton", and now Michael Apted is back for "Me & John Newton", or from what I can gather from this poster that fills Ioan Grufford up with so many pale-colored images that it looks like he's covered in fog, "William Wilberforce in the Mist". That would probably be funnier if it wasn't for the fact that no one remembers "Gorillas in the Mist", but really, what I'm getting at is that, for the first time in a while, Apted is back to films about the rising of a person behind a popular song, because, you know, a two-hour-long British film about how some old British poet came up with the idea to write "Amazing Grace" sounds terribly interesting. No, people, there's more to this story than just that, and if there wasn't, the American side of this American-British collaborative effort would probably figure something out, seeing as how they Hollywooded this film's history up enough, and not just with the casting. Yeah, William Wilberforce wished he was as handsome as Ioan Grufford, but hey, I'm still glad Gruffudd here, not just because he turns in a good performance, but because it's only fitting that you have a Welshman head a cast this British. Man, this film's cast is so British that they were able to dig up Rufus Sewell to join Nicholas Farrell, Toby Jones, Michael "The, Well, Second and Tragically Now-Only Dumbledore" Gambon, Albert Finney and, of course, the man with one of the most British names in the world, Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch. That's a lot of thick accents and a lot of thick talent, and Apted does a fair bit of this potential justice by making this film a decent one. Still, while this film is decidedly more than just a meditation about the inception of some Christian hymn that most people aren't interested in enough to have the desire to keep up with it's history, you're interest in this film is bound to be challenged by some aspects, including those of a pacing nature. I'm not going to lie, I went into this film fearing slowness, as it boasts such a potential for dryness, perhaps even dullness, yet the final product comes out able to comfortably avoid dull spells, as well as plenty of bland spells, but for only so long, before pacing dips and leaves the film to tumble into disengaging relative blandness, prolonged by occasions of dragging in story structure. This two-hour dialogue drama is generally tight, but it outstays its welcome on occasions, or at least seems to, due to the limp spots in atmosphere that shake your engagement value and dilute the final product's value as a rewarding drama, further shaken by the film's being somewhat derivative. Films of this type have been done to death throughout the years, making it near-impossible to avoid glaring tropes, plenty of which aren't explored deeply enough to throw you off, yet it's hard to ignore conventionalism's still doing some serious damage to resonance by establishing firm predictability. Of course, this film is so minimalist that predictability is no relatively big deal, so what might be the most problematic thing about this film's conventionalism is its typically succumbing to storytelling formulas that have a history of subtlety issues, because no matter how genuine this film is on the whole, when subtlety lapses, some kick is lost in the midst of rather cheesy storytelling moves, particularly those of a sentimental nature. The film means well, and such endearing heart settles the sting of many sentimental moments, sometimes to where genuine resonance is drawn through all of the unsubtle clutter, but on the whole, it is, in fact, ambition that stands behind most of this film's errors in sentimentality, establishing worthy, but overblown aspirations that end up emphasizing shortcomings every bit as much as they breathe life into a reasonable degree of charm, or at least emphasize just how minimalist this film's story concept is. Certainly, this tale of abolition is worthy, but there's just not a whole lot of meat to this premise, which holds quite a bit of dramatic possibility, but is thin enough to face a very real risk of falling out of the bonafide goodness that is, of course, ultimately lost by this sometimes slow, often sentimental, consistently conventional and all around overambitious. Still, no matter how much this film falls behind on fulfilling its worth vision, what it does right brings it close to achieving the status of all-out rewarding, while securing it as quite decent, with a fair bit of engagement value that is outdone only by the film's production value. Many a relatively minimalist period piece of this type does a fine job of restoring the distinct era in which it is set, but a lot of them simply pinch pennies and neglect to do all that much with the flaunting of their setting, with this film being an exception that puts a barely recovered $29 million budget to good use, as production designer Charles Wood and costume designer Jenny Beavan interpret the look of England between the final days of the 18th century and early days of the 19th century in a fashion that is not only adequately convincing, but intricate in a distinct and dynamic fashion that proves to be dashingly attractive and distinguished, with a lavish attention to detail that is complimented by Remi Adefarasin's cinematography, an artistic touch that isn't exactly outstanding, but still attractive, much like a certain other, more audible artistic aspect. First off, if y'all skimmed through this film's awful song soundtrack on the market and feared its presence in the final product, you may rest easy, as the filmmakers realized that such contemporaneous musical tones couldn't possibly gel with the body of this study on a time long, long lost, thus leaving most of the final product's musical value to go driven by David Arnold's score, which, even then, is kind of underused, as well as flawed by its own right, being tainted with a bit of conventionalism that dilutes your appreciation of Arnold's efforts, but just barely, as Arnold generally does a fine job of compensating by gracing his score with a rich and dynamic soul that makes it both entertaining on its own and complimentary to the reinforcement of the film's heartfelt tone. Arnold's inspired touches put together a score that makes for a worthy musical companion for this film's story, as surely as attractive production value and cinematography back a worthy visual companion for this story, complimenting the tastefulness of the telling of a worthy tale, and when you cut through all of the pretty visuals and score pieces, into the heart of the story itself, you can find subject matter that deserves nothing less than inspired compliments like the ones provided by this project's visual, musical and storytelling team. Sure, the meat and, by extension, excitement to this very conversational drama is limited, and that gives this story concept a sensitivity that could easily and, in fact, does leave a flawed film to collapse into a bit of underwhelmingness, but there's no denying the importance of this subject matter, which still holds quite a bit of dramatic material, as reflected by what is done right in this worthy story concept's execution, which features a script by Steven Knight that boasts witty dialogue and humor, as well as rich expository depth, as well as directorial performance by Michael Apted that is overambitious and flawed, but with enough liveliness to sustain a generally fair degree of entertainment value, as well as enough heart to sustain somewhat compelling charm, broken up by moments of genuine dramatic effectiveness. The film isn't as effective as it could have been, and may not be as effective as it should be, but it has its moments of resonance to break up a consistent degree of engagement value that is endearingly heartfelt enough for the film to border on generally rewarding, and get you by as reasonably well-entertained. Needless to say, this film's charm and heart wouldn't be what it is without the performers who drive this character piece, with distinguished and memorable charismas, broken up by occasions of dramatic potency, that go into making a cast full of engaging talents who do about as much as anyone or anything in keeping this film alive. True, more acting material could have made this film more as a character piece, just like how more assurance in storytelling could have made the final product genuinely rewarding on the whole, but when it's all said and done, no matter how much this film fails to achieve its full potential, it carries on as quite enjoyable, with potential that is just fulfilled enough to produce a decent dramatic effort. In closing, slow, if not a big structurally dragged out spells do damage to momentum, while conventionalism and sentimentality shake engagement value and, alongside overambition, emphasize natural shortcomings in this story that are not compensated for enough to keep underwhelmingness at bay, but still challenged enough for a borderline rewarding effort to be made, comprised of the excellent production value, fine score work, decent writing and direction, and strong acting that compliment the value of a generally worthy story enough to make Michael Apted's "Amazing Grace" a drama that may fall short, but generally does a decent job of giving you engaging insight into the fight against slavery in England. 2.75/5 - Decent

• Burger S

  
  The timeline shifts back and forth in a way that is confusing. I wasn't sure if there were two, three or even four of them until about 70% of the way through the film (it's just the two). The topic this film tackles is obviously a delicate one. I thought that the costumes… More
  The timeline shifts back and forth in a way that is confusing. I wasn't sure if there were two, three or even four of them until about 70% of the way through the film (it's just the two). The topic this film tackles is obviously a delicate one. I thought that the costumes but more importantly the scenery and locations were very convincing for the period.

• Dannielle A

  
  It's so nice to see a Christian film doing really well in Hollywood.

• meril l

  
  Amazing Grace is a veritable who's who of the British film industry. The movie does not preach its cause (not that anyone now is pro-slavery, in any case), but portrays William Wilberforce's battle with the British House through flashbacks, leading up to the vote that… More
  Amazing Grace is a veritable who's who of the British film industry. The movie does not preach its cause (not that anyone now is pro-slavery, in any case), but portrays William Wilberforce's battle with the British House through flashbacks, leading up to the vote that abolished slavery. Normally I find flashbacks to be terrible plot devices - they always seem to be an excuse for bad writing and are unnecessary - but here, they were used seamlessly. The movie is a gorgeous period piece, resplendent with some hefty acting power, but this is not where its main strength lies. The pacing is spot-on, and the story is captivating. I never got bored or felt my thoughts drifting away; even partly told in the past, the story flowed perfectly. Captivating, gorgeous, inspirational: definitely a must-see for fans of Ioan Gruffudd or of period pieces.

• William G

  
  Dry material, overwrought moments salvaged by dedicated cast, direction.

• Constanza B

  
  The story of William Wilberforce, memorably interpreted by Ioan Gruffudd, is one man's role in the long battle to outlaw slavery in the United Kingdom in the eighteenth century. This is an outstanding historical drama from director Michael Apted.

• hawk l

  
  Ioan Gruffudd's flawless performance as William Wilberforce is the centerpiece of this captivating exploration of the legislative battle to outlaw slavery in the United Kingdom in the late 1700s.

• Lovable M

  
  Good movie, but really boring at points.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings