REVIEW: INVICTUS

I have no idea how he finds time to do it, but Clint Eastwood has done it again. Invictus won't be winning any Oscars, but it is his third great effort to be released in a span of 13 months, the last two being 2008's The Changeling and Gran Torino.

Invictus is the true story of Nelson Mandela (Morgran Freeman) in his first term as South African President in 1995. He has a plan to unite his people and does so via one thing they are jointly passionate about, Rugby. He enlists underdogs The Springboks, led by Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) to accomplish this. The team had been hovering near the bottom of the league for quite some time, and perception wise, they fared unfavourably with black South Africans and more favourably with white South Africans.

The Springboks are a metaphor for apartheid in South Africa as ethnically speaking, they resembled "the same people" who wrongfully arrested Nelson Mandela. And if the team were able to overcome this negative perception, it could perhaps inspire the people of South Africa, black or white, to come together. Mandela challenges and inspires Pienaar to lead his team by example, setting their sights on the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship. Although seemingly impossible, the team makes it there while Mandela watches eagerly from the sidelines.


Invictus is a story about hope and change. Although I know little about Rugby, I found myself immersed completely in the film. My only problem with the story is that we kept getting thrown for a loop thinking being teased with signs of Mandela's imminent danger, whether it be a van driving way and slowing down in his path, when it turned out it was just someone delivering newspapers or an airplane that happened to be flying too low, when really that's all it was. The danger never comes to fruition and perhaps instead, more intensity could have been created by focusing on the obstacles the team had to overcome in order to achieve greatness; this is where the heart of the story truly lies.

Freeman puts on yet another fine performance, although there were quite a few noticable moments where he would drift in and out of his South African accent. I am a stickler with accents admittedly. I found also that Anthony Peckham's script made Mandela out to be a little too Rugby-obsessed when realistically, I'm sure he had many more pressing concerns on his plate as President. Also, Damon as a principal character is underutilized still and that is a shame because we all know the level of work he is capable of.

If were to compare Invictus with some of the other excellent sports dramas which came out this year like The Damned United and The Blind Side, I'd rate it just a notch below those two. Nonetheless, the Warner Bros. film is still an enjoyable watch. Grade: B+