INVICTUS…2.5***


There is Hollywood’s way of making movies and then way. Actor/Director Clint Eastwood stamps each of his films with his own imprint. They are straight to the point movies that don’t waste the audience’s time on needless subplots or extraneous events.
there is the Eastwood
The film is about Nelson Mandela and the period of his life after he was released from 27 years in prison. Soon thereafter he was elected President of South Africa and he inherited a very divided racial country. The blacks didn’t trust the whites and vice versa. In order to unite the country Mandela (Morgan Freeman) came up with the idea of using sports, or, one should say, the sport of rugby which was the sport of choice in South Africa. The Springbok rugby team had for years represented South Africa…...at least the “white” South Africans who had ruled South Africa before Mandela as an Apartheid, racially divided country . The team was lead by Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and he and his teammates were heavy underdogs to win the 1995 World Cup. Still Mandela thought they could and he enlisted the help of Piernar to inspire the team to greatness.

This is the bare bones of the plot We get glimpses along the way of the country, of Mandela, and of Pienaar and the team…but there are no “getting to know you” scenes. It is either basic to the plot or it is not shown. As long as you can appreciate Mandela’s dream of unity and how he uses the team to achieve that goal then you don’t need to know anything about the sport of rugby. Freeman and Damon are excellent but especially Freeman whose performance is nearly flawless…the role fits him like a glove …he becomes Mandela. He will be in the running for a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

My problem with the movie was that I was not inspired…I watched, I enjoyed, but I was not captivated by the story or the characters. It was almost as if I was watching a well-done documentary on the History Channel. So, to me it was not great but still quite good because it is about great people and great events.

Clark