“When people think of great men, they think of Napoleon, of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men”. Lord Charles Fox was referring to the great emancipator William Wilberforce, a young gun of 18^th century establishment. When he found God in his garden, Wilberforce 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 when his friend William Pitt became Prime Minister, his cause became his life.

Centred by a pleasing, restrained Ioan Gruffudd, this is old-fashioned film-making by part-time documentarian Michael Apted. Oscillating between past and present, he lays 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 (Albert Finney as John Newton, composer of the titular hymn), on the other is the entire British government corralled by an ignorant racist, the Duke of Clarence (Toby Jones).

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. To combat this, Apted frequently deflates pomposity with gentle self-mocking: “Is that some kind of heavy-handed metaphorical advice?" quips Pitt. It largely works. Amazing Grace is is honest to its time and topic, a hearty production that entertains as much as it educates.

// COLIN FRASER