Not so amazing 'Grace'

If I had to watch this movie in a history class or if my parents took me to see it, I would have enjoyed it more, but as far as Friday night movies are concerned, it didn't quite capture me the way I was expecting.

Set in England in the late 1700s, this largely historical film centers around abolitionist William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd), whose passion for the abolition of slavery drives his work to end the practice in the British empire.

Though Wilberforce is denied and ridiculed by Parliament again and again, his small groups of supporters -- including his former minister John Newton (Albert Finney), who was once captain of a slave ship and wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" to help him go through with his desire to abolish the practice.

What works for this film are the realistic depictions of 18th-century life and the way the government was run back then. Wilberforce's empathy for the slaves was well-done. He truly felt the need for equality among humanity and worked hard to show it. However, I thought the plot was lacking in depth and became redundant.

There was a lack of inspirational moments, something a story about overcoming obstacles almost always has. Now that's not to say the story didn't have uplifting moments -- there were some, but the movie waited nearly until the end to truly move the audience.

Never once did the movie tell the account of a slave's personal struggle, something I was almost sure I would see. I wanted to see suffering so I could empathize with Wilberforce's cause, but there was more talk about how hard it was for the slaves than actually showing it.

Maybe part of the problem was my high expectations. I was looking for one of those movies that would inspire me to leave the theater and do good things and then burst into Eric Clapton's "Change the World" on the way home. Instead, I left wishing they'd made the movie more powerful and less historical.

The fact of the matter is that the based-on-a-true story should have lent itself to an amazing film. And though there were many, many good moments, parts of it were slow and even droned on, as Wilberforce continued to work on his plans to present the bill and failed again and again. Furthermore, toward the end, the movie hiccupped around a lot until it magically appeared at its grand finale.

It's worth renting for a night in with your parents, but save any upcoming movie dates for a film that will stay in your mind more than 10 minutes after the credits roll.