Aside from a few charismatic scenes from Sir Michael Gambon as the sagely if rather devious Foreign Secretary Lord Edward Fox, the rest of this really struggles to elevate itself from the doldrums of it's rather dreary cast. It possibly doesn't help that much of the drama is set in a wet and gloomy 19th century England but Ioan Gruffudd as the pioneering abolitionist William Wilberforce comes across as weedy and lacklustre. The same can be said for Benedict Cumberbatch's Prime Minister William Pitt and for the most part this felt like a chronological history lesson instead of a drama that enthused me with the controversial issues of a debate that took all but a decade to reach a meaningful parliamentary vote. There is little of substance to what debate there was and whilst the film makes no bones about the position it takes, it does not flesh out the arguments out using rigorous discussion or characterisation to help illustrate just why it all took so long; just why the populace were indifferent to these atrocities. I found that this just overly relied on our own repugnance for the subject matter to bother developing the themes interestingly and provocatively - and I found myself struggling with it as it neared the two hour mark. A serious biopic of this visionary and dedicated man and of his friends and of his opponents would certainly make for compelling viewing - sadly, though, this isn't that!
