Well done: Performances were on key and Spielberg entertains like usual

Rating: 8/10 (22 April 2006)

Amistad is about African slaves onboard an 1839 ship called "La Amistad," that lead to a revolt against the Spanish after escaping and end up killing them all. Cinque, the leader of the African slaves, tries to lead the ship back to their homeland, but end up leading it right to American waters, which leads to many events that takes place in the courtroom. This is a good film that surprised me in a lot of ways. The performances were all really good especially by Djimon Honsou, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman (considering how little screen time he got, his performance still struck me with a smile), Pete Postlewaithe, and Anthony Hopkins, who had the best performance. The dialogue was smart and it seemed like David Franzoni had quite some time to write this screenplay, because it looked like it was pretty difficult to write about. The cinematography, directing, and music were all nicely done in this historic piece. Overall, not one of Spielberg's best, but still an entertaining two and a half hour film with great performances from the cast. I recommend it.
Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B