As the debate over slavery tears through early nineteenth-century America, the occupants of a small Cuban schooner find themselves caught in the political and judicial storm. When it’s intercepted by a US cruiser near the east coast, the vessel carries two brow-beaten Spaniard navigators and some forty African captives. Targets and perpetrators of a violent insurrection, as it happens, and soon the subjects of an international dispute. Though most lawmen recognize that it doesn’t justify such scrutiny, the ensuing court case becomes a hot-button public issue, weaving its way through the court system and threatening to set a contentious legal precedent at the onset of the Civil War.

Though he fudges a few historical details, Spielberg’s big slavery epic gets the mood and the messaging right. Part self-righteous morality lesson and part wordy courtroom drama, _Amistad_ often leans on its star-studded cast to hook the audience. In this, it chooses wisely. Where the production is often dry, fickle and melodramatic, its key performances have flavor to spare. Morgan Freeman and Matthew McConaughey, both as steady and reliable as ever, chew a lot of screen as core members of an abolitionist legal team. Anthony Hopkins transforms a short, preachy almost-cameo role as ex-president John Quincy Adams into a nuanced, impassioned, can’t miss performance. But all three bow before the efforts of a virtual unknown: Djimon Hounsou, who would go on to play memorable supporting parts in _Gladiator_ and _Guardians of the Galaxy_, steals this show. As de facto spokesman of the would-be slaves, Hounsou demonstrates power, bravado and charismatic magnetism, all without speaking more than three words of English. His character is the film’s lifeblood, its touchstone, and Hounsou ensures the audience can’t look away.

Beyond the acting, though, _Amistad_ is just decent. It looks and feels very of-its-time, especially as serious, message-driven films went in the late ‘90s. Efficiently produced, steadily interesting and sufficiently meaty, it doesn’t go above and beyond in any of those respects. A reasonable night’s entertainment, but apart from Hounsou’s blow-away performance, I won’t remember it in a few months.