"Bookended" by director Steven Spielberg's two masterpieces, "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," this tale of a court case involving a slave ship rebellion seemingly fell through the cracks. Many questioned whether Spielberg could do for slavery what he did for the Holocaust, and the results, in our opinion, are a mixed bag. To be fair, that stems more from the limitations of the actual story than with Spielberg's handling of the material (although his obvious and occasionally manipulative efforts diffuse some of the film's momentum).
Half courtroom drama and half character study, it's the legal stuff that lacks any real pizzazz. Aside from the stirring speech by Anthony Hopkins (playing former President John Quincy Adams) toward the end, the court scenes are mildly interesting, but certainly not invigorating. Audiences used to legal shenanigans and fireworks will find this material rather blase, which again can mostly be attributed to the real life incidents. Such proceedings, while obviously necessary for the plot, only make the film feel much longer than its two and a half hour plus duration.
Likewise, the slavery issue, while certainly tragic and inhumane, lacks the ghastly behavior that fueled "Schindler's List." In that film, Ralph Fiennes personified the impersonal horrors. In this film, such moments are anonymously brutal, but feel that they've been placed there just to prod our emotions. Yes, what happens is horrific, but the heavy-handed manipulation and the fact that we have seen the plight of slavery many times before, especially in the superb TV miniseries "Roots," diffuses the impact of these scenes.
That problem is offset, however, by getting to know the characters personally, and the group- appointed leader, Cinque, becomes our focal point for their plight. It's his story (as reiterated by Hopkins' character) that's most important, and it's during those moments when we learn about his trials and tribulations that the story has resonance. Djimon Hounsou is quite impressive in this role, and easily stands out with one of the film's better performances.
Anthony Hopkins is brilliant as usual, delivering an interesting take on the former president, but one only wishes he had more screen time with which to explore that character. Freeman, who almost always brings a reserved dignity to nearly any feature he's in, isn't given much to do other than be the token older black man the Africans can't quite figure out.
Matthew McConaughey, despite his period muttonchops and appropriate apparel, never quite seems to fit into this period piece. While most everyone else feels like 19th century characters, McConaughey seems misplaced, as if transported there from a more modern time. He delivers an okay performance, but something about him just didn't feel right.
Overall, the film works in an artistic sense -- the technical specs are good and the cast members all deliver decent performances -- but it never connects into your gut like "Schindler's List" did. It does have a few shining moments, as well as a handful of horrific ones, but it just never seemed to quite click for me. I wanted to be swept away by the experience, and while I can critically admire what was on the screen, it just seemed to keep me at a distance.
Definitely too long, the film would have benefitted from some judicial editing. While everything about it is competent, this production just never quite takes off, either dramatically or emotionally. Some viewers will find it horrendous, but ultimately uplifting, while others will think it's above average, but certainly not great.
As far as the technical & supplemental merits of the DVD, the picture is good, but not quite as sharp as one might like and certainly expect, but the audio it topnotch, particularly for what's mostly a dramatic piece. The supplemental material is decent (including a "making of" feature), but this one could have benefitted from hearing the master himself (Spielberg) ruminating about the film on one of those auxiliary audio tracks.
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