Amistad is a powerful movie about a real incident that had a bearing on history. Let's start with some of the many positives: Spielberg is one of our era's most talented filmmakers and his skills are certainly on display here. The film is well acted by the entire cast, especially Hopkins as former president Adams and Freeman as an abolitionist businessman. These 2 actors are always good and Amistad is no exception.

Where the film falters is when Spielberg takes "dramatic license". Putting it simply, when he lies. The real story should have been enough for a great movie so the truth shouldn't have to be stretched to overdramatize events. The slavetraders were lousy human beings without a doubt but they didn't dump half the slaves in the ocean. Adams never met any of the Africans he defended so well and their presence in a courtroom is not believable. The speeches made in the film do not reflect 1839-40 attitudes, they reflect current ones. This could have and probably should have been great. As it is, it is a well told story with too many half truths. 3.5 Stars.