Invictus
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Adjoa Andoh, Julian Lewis Jones.
Rating: PG
3 stars (out of 5)
Reviewed by Mark Orton.
The difficult thing for any New Zealand viewers is going to be finding significant distance between what happens on the screen in Invictus and our knowledge of the actual details.
Based on John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation, Invictus is a fascinating tale of what happened when Nelson Mandela seized upon the 1995 Rugby World Cup as a unifying tool for the rainbow nation.
Clint Eastwood might have never seen a rugby match before making Invictus, but he made sure that he sorted out the most crucial position. Casting Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela is a stroke of genius.
Not only does Freeman echo Mandela's mannerisms to a T, he elevates the film so you simply forget where Freeman finishes and Mandela starts.
Matt Damon is tad on the small side and badly in need of a prosthetic nose, but his accent and performance is not nearly as bad as it could have been.
So . . . what about the rugby?
The sport itself will probably look impressive for anyone not acquainted with it, but the dance-like choreography makes it look positively pedestrian and a little laughable if you have been brought up with the game.
Invictus might not erase the debilitating effects of apartheid, but it does help heal the wounds of letting the '95 world cup slip - even if Suzie the waitress is conveniently absent.
Best thing: Morgan Freeman. This is the role he was born to play.
Worst thing: The music. Awful.
Perhaps it had something to do with Clint's musician son Kyle, who is on the payroll.
See it with: Anyone seeking an insight into a significant episode of African politics.
