AMAZING GRACE (M)
Starring Ioan Gruffud, Rufus Sewell
Directed by Michael Apte
Rating ****
When William Wilberforce, a young gun of 18th century establishment, found God in his garden, he had to choose between politics or petunias. A strident voice for the abolition of Britain's slave trade, he found greater good could be achieved at Westminster and his cause became his life. Centred by a pleasing, restrained Ioan Gruffudd, this is old-fashioned film-making.
Apted oscillates between past and present, laying out a series of events that led to a significant, if pragmatic change in British business. On one side are the committed libertarians encouraged by a former slave-trader turned monk, on the other is the entire British government corralled by an ignorant racist. Amazing Grace avoids some of the topic's darker truths and keeps slavery an off-screen notion rather than a tangible reality.
While it serves the script well, allowing it to focus on political machinations rather than high drama, it also extracts some of the bitter from the sweet. The vigorous workings of parliament are gripping and there's some interesting character work amid discourse about changing times, yet the film remains elusive - too evangelical to fully excite. Yet Amazing Grace is honest to its time and topic, a hearty production that entertains as much as it educates.
This Week in Queensland Pride..
AMAZING GRACE (M) 
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