Invictus Review

My primary fear as I walked into Invictus was that it would devolve from a story about a man desperately trying to bring his country together into a bland, simplistic feel-good-film about a sports team that almost didn’t win the State Championship, National Medal, World cup, ect. Needless to say, my sole reason to not be immediately repulsed when I first saw the trailers to this film was two simple words and one gorgeous name: Clint Eastwood. Who can say no to the man that brought us Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, The Unforgiven and Letters From Iwo Jima? I know that I for one can’t.

Invictus gently engages its audience with cut scenes from various speeches by Mandela and numerous events that were happening throughout South Africa at the time. Slow in its initial pace, it finally comes around to Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) awaking to his 4:00 AM alarm, his first day as president. During his morning jog (not without his own variation of secret service of course) he comes across a stack of fresh newspapers saying “He can win an election. But can he lead a nation?” “First day on the job and they’re already trying to bring you down” one of his body guards complains, “It’s a legitimate question” Mandela justifies.

Just after the apartheid period, Mandela is all too aware of the plight his nation is still in. Distraught as to how he should try and bring his country as together as one, Mandela turns to one of the nation’s most popular sports: rugby.

Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of Mandela is captivating, perhaps Oscar-worthy; every bit of dialogue, every bodily movement shows Freeman’s embracement and immersion of his latest role. Accustomed to playing deep voiced commanding figures, this time around Freeman steps down from his mantle and embodies a man of true humility and absolute discipline. A man of few, simple, and yet eternally true words. I can recall a scene in which Mandela interferes with a community meeting of Springbok protesters. The protesters were demanding that the national rugby team, the Springboks, have the colors of their uniforms and name changed because they felt that those were representations of the not so long ago Apartheid Period. Interfering with the conference Mandela warned them “If we do this we become exactly what they feared …. We must learn forgiveness.” I felt that this scene, perhaps more than any other, showed Freeman’s complete and total understanding of Mandela’s frank, simple, urgent, and yet completely humble nature. However, less can be said about the other talents involved.

While watching the film I could feel none of Eastwood’s directorial talents at work, in fact I think much of the film rode on Freeman’s brilliant performance. For the man who had brought us just last year the emotionally wrenching story of Christine Collins I could see little emotional weight in this film, apart from a single scene in which the Springboks visit the island in which Mandela was once imprisoned.

The film also makes little us of another great talent: Matt Damon. While the scene in which he does speak are well done, as he sports an adequate accent, I feel that he wasn’t given much to say. Most of his scenes involve him looking out a window or at piece of paper while possessing a ponderous look on his face. The role could have been cast to almost any half-wit actor who could pull off a decent Afrikaner accent.

The entire film starts and ends predictably; its only merit besides Freeman’s aforementioned performance is the fact that it pulled it off without making me roll me eyes in frustration. Perhaps a biopic about Mandela’s lifetime would have better earned the title of “Invictus.”