Review of Amistad (1997) by Alexander Z — 19 Apr 2013

This was Spielberg's attempt, like Schindler's List, to make a culturally sensitive film about oppression, and let me tell you, it is embarrassing as all get out. It's not exactly a bad movie, because all the parts are there, but Spielberg attempts to hold them together with inconsistent acting, incredibly melodramatic music, and far too many broad themes. But the really ridiculous part is that everything is a caricature. The Spanish, the English, the Americans, the Africans, the presidents, the accents, the sets, the battles, and it just goes on like this. The entire film looks like what a guy born today who isn't a historian thinks the 1840s looked like. In other words, the whole thing looks like a bad Civil War reenactment. Just listen to Anna Paquin trying to depict a young Queen Isabella. You'll tear your ears off.

I don't know what Spielberg was thinking here. Amistad reeks of trying too hard to be sensitive and complex, but just winds up being silly and over the top.