If awards were won by the first 15 minutes of movies, Amistad would have
swept the board. This story of a ship of slaves put on trial for murdering
their captors is based on historical events and is the stuff of high
drama, but Spielberg lets it get mired in sub-John Grisham court
histrionics that rob it of its compelling pathos. This does not reduce
the power of the opening, however: a harrowing and abstracted
portrayal of the escape itself that eloquently and powerfully evokes
the desperation and heroism of the slaves' struggle.
