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Title: Invictus
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, this movie would be a perfectly family friendly PG-rated film if it weren't for one use of the f-word and a couple other minor curse words. Recommended for ages 10 and up. |
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I hate sports. Don’t like the games, don’t like the politics, don’t get what’s so fun about watching them. Find no interest at all. So it’s to someone’s credit when they can direct a sports movie where I can actually get into the game itself. I acknowledge that for some reason sports dramas can tap into the human soul that other movies tend to struggle with sometimes, but I think a glut of “based on a true story” sports movies sort of diluted the whole concept for a lot of reasons. If there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this genre I don’t think it’s the critically mixed “The Blind Side” starring Sandra Bullock, but the Clint Eastwood directed “Invictus.”
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“Invictus” stars Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman as South African President Mandela, who was released from jail and somehow managed to become the first black president of South Africa. Yeah, I don’t know how he did it either. In America our first black president came under fire during his election just because he was caught smoking. The fact that a black man who was jailed and living in a segregated country is testament to Mandela as a person (of course, I’ve always figured if one can could get world peace rolling it wouldn’t be George Clooney, it would be Morgan Freeman). Mandela is unpopular both in and out of office. Outside the world is waiting for him to inspire more hate crimes. Inside his bodyguards are uncomfortable with the fact he hires both white and black men to protect him.
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Mandela is most interested in peace among his people, and gets the crazy idea that if the countries rugby team wins the Rugby World Cup then he can inspire the nation to unite. This I understand: America was united because of the hockey game at the 1980 Winter Olympics. This is where Matt Damon comes in as Francois Pienaar, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with his new leader. Having directed films for years, Clint Eastwood has been on a winning streak most directors half his age wished they had. He has knowledge for the craft of film making that is evident of years of experience and a heart for the story and characters. If I don’t find this to be one of the greatest sports movies of all time I’ll admit it’s mainly because of the sport rugby.
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To be blunt, I simply don’t get it. I have a friend who I’m sure will get on my back after reading this review and explaining the brilliance of the game, but I thought it was a stripped down version of football. The only difference being that you can only throw the ball sideways and there is less protection worn, otherwise it all looks the same to me. I also find the last quarter of the film to be more or less what you’d expect from a movie like this, including slow-motion viewing of the final minutes in the game. But the story is pretty good, and Freeman and Damon are excellent in their roles, and Eastwoods direction is excellent. I find this to be a pretty fun-of-the-mill sports movie but, eh, it’s never boring and it’s usually touching, which means the movie works in it’s own constrained way. Plus I’m pretty sure this is the most mainstream movie about rugby we’re likely to get at this point.
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