I went out to the movie theater for the first time in months Thursday evening to see "Amazing Grace," the story of William Wilberforce and his crusade to abolish slavery in the British empire.

Before I talk about the film, a couple of unrelated notes. First, movie tickets at my local theater are now $10, up from $9.50. Thankfully, I buy movie tickets for $6.50 at Costco to save a few bucks. Second, I think too many movie theaters are behind the technological curve. The theater I usually go to is only two or three years old. It has stadium seating, is clean and has a good sound system -- but it's still showing film, with all of those occasional blips and dust spots, etc. I'm still getting a better total entertainment experience at home with my HDTV and either HD-DVDs or HD movie downloads via Xbox Live.

"Amazing Grace" is probably one of the best dramas I've watched in the past year or so. Ioan Gruffudd, last seen playing Mr. Fantastic in the "Fantastic Four," plays British MP William Wilberforce wonderfully. Several critics have pointed to Albert Finney who plays the slave ship captain turned minister John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace, as a possible 2008 Oscar contender for best supporting actor, and Finney certainly deserves consideration. But Gruffudd should not be overlooked. He does an excellent job showing the passion Wilberforce has for God and abolishing the slave trade -- along with the effects that a more than 15-year effort marked by failure after failure had on his health.

Other excellent performances are turned in by Rufus Sewell as minister and abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, Michael Gambon as Lord Charles Fox and Youssou N'Dour as freed slave Oloudaqh Equiano.

It's more than worth it to see this fantastic movie even at the nighttime premium. There are numerous scenes which bring tears to your eyes as you see what man's inhumanity to man consisted of.

Everyone should see this film.