Amazing Grace

The Dollar theater is a place of second chances. I don't remember why I didn't go see this film in its initial run, but I corrected that neglect today. "Amazing Grace" is a great film about a man who set out to abolish slavery in Great Britian. The story is connected to the song; "Amazing Grace" in that the main character's mentor was the man who wrote the song. The hero of the story is William Wilberforce, played by Ioan Gruffud. His former preacher is John Newton (played by Albert Finney) who formerly was a slave ship captain and wrote "Amazing Grace about himself. Director Michael Apted is able to clearly and powerfully follow the historic events and the lifelong struggles of a man who desires to do what is right. Should he use his voice to praise God, or change the world? There are some great scenes and dialouge that drive home the point that he should do both. The "Amazing Grace" side story worked well to emphasise the motivation of the Wilberforce character, but really the film was about him. From his arguments in Parliament, to his quiet conversations with his wife, this film is profound, uplifting and good. I'm going to sound like a Focus on the Family movie review for a second, but the only problem I had with the whole movie, is that Wilberforce made a reference to "millions of years". I don't know enough about the actual man, but being a Christian in the late 1700s, I think it is most likely that he wouldn't have made that comment. Other than that, I think that Apted and the writer Steven Knight did a great job of making a movie about a man who honored God in his words and actions.

As a sidenote, after watching that documentary on PBS about the Mormons, it certainly was a welcome change to watch something that made my soul happy.