If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Belle is a pretty picture to look at, a chocolate box costume drama. Somewhere in its story of wanting to find the right husband in late 18th century society is a social drama of what it means to be a black person in Britain and the role of slavery in British society. Are slaves human are chattel?Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) was a real person. The mixed race, illegitimate daughter of a British naval officer and a black slave. Luckily for Belle, her father acknowledged his offspring after the death of her mother and he put her in the care of his family.Belle was raised reluctantly at first by her great uncle Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) who was the Lord Chief Justice of England and his wife Lady Mansfield (Emily Watson.) They were also caring for Lady Elizabeth Murray, Belle's cousin (both Belle and Elizabeth feature in a painting that inspired the movie.) Both treated each other as sisters even though in the Mansfield household they were not entirely equal, as Dido would often eat dinner separately.Despite the Mansfields treating Belle as their own child they were well aware that her colour would affect her social standing and also harm her chances of a suitable proposal even though she would inherit her father's fortune.The film deals with Belle's role in society as she and Elizabeth go through social functions as Elizabeth seeks suitable suitors. However Lord Mansfield is also dealing with an important insurance case, the Zong case which dealt with the payout to ship owners who deliberately threw off slaves from the ship as there was a lack of enough water for the people in the boat.A vicar's son, John Davinier (Sam Reid) who plans to be a lawyer, takes an interest in the Zong case and the abolitionist movement. He believes that the slaves were thrown overboard and drowned because they carried infection due to their cramped conditions in the ship and thus worthless. Belle gets involved in the Zong case because of him. It seems Lord Mansfield's view of the case would be coloured because he raised Belle in his household since she was a child.Belle is an uneven blend of costume drama and social history. The part where both Belle and her cousin hope to marry into a bigoted aristocratic family rather gets in the way of the film which never truly engages you.

This movie had an amazing storyline.. It was a beautiful story that all people should hear.. This movie showed me a piece of history that's not talked about, that I feel should be because not only did the actors make you feel what the movie was about they also made you think about what it was like back then.. This is a movie I will gladly recommend for others do watch.. I know once I have children this will be in he list of must sees that's just how much I loved itOver all this movie was hands down the best I've seen in my life... Officially my favorite movie... And I plan on naming my daughter after the beautiful and strong Dido Belle.. I know this review is all over the place but I didn't know how else to get 10 lines

I had not heard of this movie until it I stumbled across it in the TV schedules! What a good job I did because it is a superb movie on many levels.First, the two leads, Sam Reid and Gugu Mbanga-Raw, are excellent. Reid plays the of Davinier with with passion and conviction, a man ahead of his times in his views on the value of all life, at a time when slaves were treated as possessions. Mbanga-Raw is a gorgeous woman and it must have been hard to play the role of Dido with the requisite uncertainty that life as a mulatto in society would have carried with it. But she is inspired to stand up for her beliefs by the steadfastness of Davinier in his beliefs.The supporting cast do a great job, from Tom Wilkinson to Emily Watson to Miranda Richardson and Penelope Wilton, and everybody else. The film is directed with a sure hand and the cinematography captures the atmosphere of the day superbly.If you have not seen this movie, try and find the DVD. You won;t be disappointed!

James Norton as the younger brother of Tom Felton who once again plays a foppish douche was enough of a contrast to take me out of the moment of the movie. Aside from that I became truly engrossed in the story of Belle as a rather large rock tossed into the still waters of the pressures to find "an acceptable match" for your children and family in British society touching on inheritance and slavery in a way that made me think of Moneyball. The scene where the white Bette explains that she is more property than her Negro cousin Belle dug at the feminist in me. Lord and Lady Mansfield were quite empathetic and the discussions of law and class by them and many other characters were not dumbed down in any way. I do enjoy a movie that requires me to think.