Dir. Michael Apted
Writ. Stephen Knight
Act. Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Ciaran Hinds

I thought that this was a very good movie but unless you like the subject material then I wouldn't recommend watching this movie. It is produced very well and is very engaging and also is very British. This should be on your list of movies to see because it's very good.

William Wilberforce, played by Iaon Gruffodd (King Arthur,) is a British MP who has taken up the cause to abolish slavery in the United Kingdom and all of its territories. After meeting much resistance and few allies, Wilberforce tries to find the courage to continue the fight despite the fact of being called a traitor and ally to France during the Napoleon Wars. With the help of his wife Barbara, played by Romolo Garai (Scoop) and British MP John Newton, played by Albert Finney (The Good Shepard,) he is able to prevail and win freedom for an entire race.

This movie was written by Academy Award ® nominee Stephen Knight and it shows. The story was very well put together and at no time did it seem tedious or slow even though the subject matter was British politics and politicians. However, he did not make the language overly "English" and was very easy to understand. I guess the word I am looking for is contemporary. I thought the directing was also very good and that Director Michael Apted kept the movie going and allowed the British characters in the movie to be passionate about the subject, which was lacking in other movies about British history.

I thought all of the actors were great and did good jobs. Gruffodd was very entertaining and was able to make a British politician interesting and most importantly, passionate. That is the key to why this movie is not slow or boring. Everyone involved, both for and against slavery, were passionate about their reasons for either wanting to abolish or keep slavery. I can't stress enough that this was important to the movie because if the actors came across as stuffy, this movie would have been painfully slow.

The production design was stellar as well as the cinematography. It looked very authentic and at no time did I see a boom mike or anything that looked like the people weren't paying attention.

If you are interested in politics or history, then this is a movie worth seeing. I am giving it the best rating because I am interested in those things. However if you find those things boring, then don't even think about purchasing a ticket at the theater or renting it on DVD, unless you want to learn something, heaven forbid.

Brian - the Naked Gun