Plot Summary
John Newton was never a saint. After living a wild lifestyle and trying to dodge the British Navy draft, he found himself on the high seas and eventually marooned as a slave on a strange island. But his spirit never gave up and eventually, after coming to the end of himself, He was used of God to influence a powerful emancipation movement that changed the world forever.
Production Quality (1 point)
Though a lot of good effort is made in this film, it is clear that poor funding holds it back from being all that it could be. Camera work is sometimes shaky and video quality sometimes has an odd soft-light quality to it. Flashbacks also have a weird quality to them. Audio quality is also inconsistent as there are occasional loud outside sounds; the soundtrack is also generic. The strongest point of this production is the mostly realistic and historically authentic sets, locations, and props, even though there are some obvious animation and some cheesy special effects combined with this. The editing is okay, but there are some large time jumps. Overall, it is clear that this creative team is honest in their work…they just needed some better funding.
Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)
The story of John Newton is definitely a great historical account to chronicle in film, and Newton’s Grace is an accurate retelling of the story. However, this plot commits a common error of Biblical and historical stories in that it forgets that historical characters are real people that need character development. Dialogue is a bit too formal and obligatory rather than dynamic, which leaves the characters unfinished. As previously mentioned, the story does skip through time a little too fast and leaves the audience slightly confused. This only leads to an anticlimactic end that does not drive the important message home enough. In the end, while this film is a nice effort, if the story had been improved, it would have more impact.
Acting Quality (2 points)
This casting job is mostly authentic, which once again demonstrates good effort. While there are some moments of overly theatrical and practiced acting, this section is the film’s strongest point, even though most the cast members are ‘amateurs’. The acting caps off an overall commendable effort
Conclusion
If Newton’s Grace had been given a better budget, it could have made a strong case for Hall of Fame. However, there are still concerns with the plot content, in that the historical characters do not feel like they are real. When writing historical plots, writers shouldn’t forget to help their audiences access the characters more than the events depicted. At the end of the day, audiences want to be able to connect with the movie’s characters more than they want to connect with the circumstances of the film. There are always exceptions to this, but it’s a good rule of thumb to follow.
Final Rating: 3.5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 
Pingback: Wesley [2009] (Movie Review) – Box Office Revolution