I have been waiting for a while to see the movie, Amazing Grace, which opened in theaters last Friday (2/23). We decided to watch it today on our day off. It was worth the wait!

The movie, which tells the story of William Wilberforce’s campaign to end slavery in England, was very well done. Wilberforce, a member of the House of Commons, was influenced by former slave trader, John Newton, who experienced a radical change of heart and went on to write one of the most important hymns in the Christian tradition, "Amazing Grace," from which the movie gets its name, of course.

Not only was the story well communicated, there was a strong faith
element, without being overdone or done poorly. It was also a very
inspiring movie. Wilberforce
was an example of someone who did the right thing even though it was
incredibly hard. He fought for something that very view people agreed
with and even fewer people were willing to stand up for. It wasn’t easy
for him to do so, but he persevered against all odds, and somehow, he
found the courage
to fight the battle against human trafficking. And the world is better
because of it!

Interestingly, I checked out the weekend’s box office numbers and "Amazing Grace" came in at #10 in its first weekend at the box office. That’s not so good UNTIL
you realize that the movie only opened in an unbelievably low 791
theaters! Even more interesting, the movie’s per-theater
ticket sales was right up there with the top two movies, but those
movies appeared in FIVE times as many theaters. Needless to say, I’m very surprised, and disappointed, that
"Amazing Grace" only opened in 791 theaters. It’s a movie that everyone needs to see!