I saw the movie "Amazing Grace" this weekend with a group from my mother's church. This film is based on the true life story of William Wilberforce who worked to outlaw the slave trade in England. His story is a great one, and I would like to say that the movie does justice, but I can't.
I really wanted to love this movie but it seemed to run long and could have been edited down a bit. There were flashback scenes that were confusing and a voice-over during the flashbacks, but not all of them, which added to the confusion. At least a moderate understanding of English, French and American history is needed prior to viewing the movie to understand specific people and events that are brushed over. The storyline seemed to drag but the ending finished up rather abruptly, as if they ran out of time, and the music wasn't really exceptional - with one exception: The closing credits contained a bagpipe and brass band version of the song "Amazing Grace" that was worth sitting through the whole film for.
Do I recommend the film? Yes, but as a rental so you can pause it and take a break as well as see your watch easier. The most interesting thing about going to see this movie was the audience with which I saw it. The crowd was entirely white, mostly middle-aged and over. Perhaps it was because they didn't teach black history 40 years ago like they do now, but the descriptions of the slave trade (which were actually very mild) caused multiple gasps throughout the theater. There is a point in the film where a congregation at a church sing "Amazing Grace" as a hymn and the audience joined in and that was pretty cool.
Another interesting thing was the trailers (previews) before the movie. Usually there are at least 3 and as many as 9 (that I've seen). There was only 1. They could only find one film to place as a promotional to the crowd they expected to market to.
In conclusion, it is sad to me that Christian art, in this case the film, doesn't show the quality of excellence. It is almost like the producers and writer figure that the Christians will go and see it regardless and it isn't worth their time to do it well. The movie tells a great story, it should have told it better.
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