Amazing Grace

Amazinggrace

A new movie opens today about William Wilberforce and his campaign to end the slave trade. It's directed by Michael Apted. The website is a rich resource on the subject. Manohla Dargis's review is here. Money quote:

The overall effect is part BBC-style biography, part Hollywood-like hagiography, and generally pleasing and often moving, even when the story wobbles off the historical rails or becomes bogged down in dopey romance. Wilberforce often comes across as too good to be true, which may be why the fine Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, doubtless with the encouragement of his socially minded director, plays him with a hint of madness in his eyes.