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Movie Reviews
Sep. 26th, 2009 01:49 amI've got a free trial of Netflix for the month, so I thought I'd briefly review what I've watched.
Under the Greenwood Tree - Supremely bland. It moved fast enough that I didn't exactly get bored, but that's about all I can say for it. The plot was very simple--a woman and her three suitors. I haven't read the story upon which it's based, so I don't know how faithful the adaptation was. The movie is described as "charming" and "romantic." It was neither. (Not that I would usually associate either word with Thomas Hardy, but again, I haven't read it, so I guess I should leave him out of it.) The characters needed to carry the movie, but sadly they were uninteresting and not particularly likeable. And despite being a period piece, I can't even say it was pretty to look at.
Amazing Grace - This is worth watching for the great cast--Ioan Gruffudd, Ciaran Hinds, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon. As a straightforward historical film, I feel it was somewhat successful. The thing is, it's a movie about a white guy and his white friends and a token black guy who dies off-screen halfway through and how they ended the slave trade. I'm not saying that Wilberforce wasn't a great guy--though all I know about him was what's in the movie--or that he isn't a good subject for a movie. But for a movie dealing with slavery, there was a lack of slave viewpoints. So much time and effort and political struggle was glossed over. That aspect was so rushed, blink and you missed it. Instead we got Wilberforce and his illness, Wilberforce and his wife, Wilberforce and his fascination with God's creation. I would have much preferred a movie about politics and changing public opinion to this one about the heroic sufferings and triumph of a single man.
Under the Greenwood Tree - Supremely bland. It moved fast enough that I didn't exactly get bored, but that's about all I can say for it. The plot was very simple--a woman and her three suitors. I haven't read the story upon which it's based, so I don't know how faithful the adaptation was. The movie is described as "charming" and "romantic." It was neither. (Not that I would usually associate either word with Thomas Hardy, but again, I haven't read it, so I guess I should leave him out of it.) The characters needed to carry the movie, but sadly they were uninteresting and not particularly likeable. And despite being a period piece, I can't even say it was pretty to look at.
Amazing Grace - This is worth watching for the great cast--Ioan Gruffudd, Ciaran Hinds, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon. As a straightforward historical film, I feel it was somewhat successful. The thing is, it's a movie about a white guy and his white friends and a token black guy who dies off-screen halfway through and how they ended the slave trade. I'm not saying that Wilberforce wasn't a great guy--though all I know about him was what's in the movie--or that he isn't a good subject for a movie. But for a movie dealing with slavery, there was a lack of slave viewpoints. So much time and effort and political struggle was glossed over. That aspect was so rushed, blink and you missed it. Instead we got Wilberforce and his illness, Wilberforce and his wife, Wilberforce and his fascination with God's creation. I would have much preferred a movie about politics and changing public opinion to this one about the heroic sufferings and triumph of a single man.