William Wilberforce Arrives in America on February 23, 2007<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether it's any good or not, I can tell you already that the film Amazing Grace will likely win honors from many Christian film critics merely because of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"William Wilberforce Arrives in America on February 23, 2007\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether it's any good or not, I can tell you already that the film Amazing Grace will likely win honors from many Christian film critics merely because of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-08-31T23:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-14T21:36:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/\",\"name\":\"William Wilberforce Arrives in America on February 23, 2007\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-08-31T23:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-14T21:36:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"Whether it's any good or not, I can tell you already that the film Amazing Grace will likely win honors from many Christian film critics merely because of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"William Wilberforce Arrives in America on February 23, 2007\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. 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{"id":19572,"date":"2006-08-31T23:57:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-31T23:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.wordpress.com\/2006\/08\/31\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/"},"modified":"2013-01-14T14:36:32","modified_gmt":"2013-01-14T21:36:32","slug":"william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/08\/william-wilberforce-arrives-in-america-on-february-23-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"William Wilberforce Arrives in America on February 23, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Whether it\u2019s any good or not, I can tell you already that the film Amazing Grace <\/em>will likely win honors from many Christian film critics merely because of its subject.<\/p>\n

Michael Apted, director of the \u201cUp\u201d series (7 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up, etc\u2026), has directed the film, which focuses on the life of the great abolitionist and Christian, William Wilberforce. And it has just won a U.S. distribution deal<\/a>, thanks to Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside Attractions.\u00a0The film will screen for the first time at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it will open in America on February 23, which just so happens to be the the 200th anniversary of the British parliamentary vote to abolish slavery.<\/p>\n

Amazing Grace <\/em>stars Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four<\/em>) as William Wilberforce, and Albert Finney as the Rev. John Newton. It also stars one of my favorite young actresses\u2026 Romola Garai. And the supporting cast includes Rufus Sewell, , Youssou N\u2019Dour, Ciaran Hinds, Michael Gambon, and somebody named Benedict Cumberbatch. (Wasn\u2019t that the real name of the Penguin in Batman Returns<\/em>? Oh, wait, no, that was Oswald Cobblepot. My bad.)<\/p>\n

I do sincerely hope that Amazing Grace<\/em> is an excellent piece of work. The February release date has me concerned. Does that mean that the studio doesn\u2019t view it as potential Oscar material? It has a great deal of formidable talent attached to it, so there\u2019s plenty of reason to be optimistic. Let\u2019s just hope they match the important and inpsiring story with important and inspiring filmmaking excellence. Because, contrary to what a lot of folks who email me insist, message isn\u2019t everything. Excellence really does matter\u2026 and not just to us, but to God.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"