I Suppose It Had To Happen

Rating: 6/10 (22 September 2011)

So now Big Stevie gets to give his take upon Negro slavery. And true to form it's a cheese-fest.
Able Anthony Hopkins sets aside his liver & Chianti to play the role of advocate in a movie based upon a 'true story' of shipboard slave mutiny. It's all in a good cause.
The Yanks demonstrate that they really are the true advocates of civil liberties (not the Brits), and defy the old European colonialist ways of Spain, France, England et al. It's wordy and well-intentioned. But it's schmaltzy in a way that can only come from a Jewish director, and whilst that may suit the sensibilities of an American audience, it doesn't cut half so well across the pond.
Spielberg has an eye for detail and both sets and costumes are nicely presented. Script is adequate. The best bits are supposed to be uttered by British Tony, but he brings a rather bumbling personification to his character that rather spoils the enunciation and emphasis. I just don't think he cuts it as a Yank. Maybe Chas Heston should have tried his luck. Other technical issues are up to snuff.
We all come away suitably chastened for our past disgraces, but redeemed by our repentance. Slavery is abolished - hurrah! But just try telling that to the Negroes in the American south long after the civil war. Even up to the 1960's they were being murdered with impunity.
And here's the culminating irony: those very races and tribes for whom we abolished slavery, still carry on enslaving each other to this day, just as they did long before Whites ever set foot in Africa. It's a funny old world.
If you fancy a bit of moral flagellation this may hit the spot in a rather tedious and self-righteous way. But once is definitely enough unless you're a masochist.