RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

It was 200 years ago that Britain outlawed the slave trade, quite a political feat back in 1807. And the new film "Amazing Grace" details the drama behind that victory.

Los Angeles Times and MORNING EDITION film critic Kenneth Turan has this review.

KENNETH TURAN: "Amazing Grace" is a story of idealism and speaking truth to power. It understands there is something deeply dramatic about a man who stands up for what is right and makes a difference in this life.

The man in question is William Wilberforce, who for decades was Parliament's prime mover in the battle to abolish the slave trade in Britain. Wilberforce ended up buried in Westminster and lionized by his peers, but that should blind no one to how much of a struggle his crusade turned out to be.

(Soundbite of movie, "Amazing Grace")

Mr. IOAN GRUFFUDD (Actor): (as William Wilberforce) This is a slave ship - the Madagascar. It has just returned from the Indies, where it delivered 200 men, women and children to Jamaica. When it left Africa, there were 600 on board.

TURAN: It is risky in this cynical age to make a traditional biopic, to construct a narrative that focuses on the good men do in the way films like "The Life of Emile Zola" and "Madame Curie" did in decades past. Fortunately, director Michael Apted and his team have understood the challenges of this kind of story and met them with intelligence and energy.

Apted, whose dramatic credits include "Coal Miner's Daughter" and HBO's "Rome", has been true to the outsized emotions of the story without giving way to sentimentality.

A major factor in this success is strong acting by performers who seem at home in the spirit of a turbulent age. First among equals is Welsh-born Ioan Gruffudd. Gruffudd's naturalness and charisma allow us to accept him as Wilberforce, a somewhat otherworldly man once described as all soul and no body, who - once committed to abolition - was uncompromising in its service.

"Amazing Grace" introduces us to Wilberforce at a crucial midpoint in his career. It's a moment in 1797, a decade after he became an abolitionist, when physically exhausted and in despair, he feels like all his work has been for naught.

Given Apted's documentary background with the landmark "Seven Up!" series, it's not surprising that this film has a visually striking sense of period. From crowded docks to the chaos of London streets, "Amazing Grace" puts us right into the past in a most convincing way. Though looking at history as the work of great men may be out of favor, "Amazing Grace" embraces this point of view and makes it its own.

MONTAGNE: Kenneth Turan reviews movies for MORNING EDITION and The Los Angeles Times. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.