Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul."
Is some of the text of the poem from which the title of this film was taken - and centers in the most moving scene in the entire film.
INVICTUS
Clint Eastwood is one of the best directors working in Hollywood today - and has delivered some of the best films of the last 10 years in Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino. Morgan Freeman is one of the most beloved and respected actors working today, and consistently delivers understated performances, in addition to being a longtime Eastwood collaborator, he was arguably born to play Nelson Mandela. Matt Damon is one of the best younger actors working today - and has shown serious acting chops in films from the "Bourne" series to The Departed. Combine these cinematic heavyweights with one of the truly inspiring sports stories of the past 20 years and one of the truly great men of the 20th century, and you should have a can't miss hit and critical darling. If any figure of the late 20th century deserves the cinematic treatment, it's Nelson Mandela, and I figured this film was going to be it. When I first saw the trailer for this one, I assumed it'd win at least best Actor and best Director without breaking a sweat, and probably best Picture as well, given Eastwood's recent films. With all this talent and the quality of the story involved, this should truly be a great film.
While it is a good film, with some great moments and a terrific performance from Freeman as Mandela, it does not live up to the (perhaps unrealistic) expectations I had for this one going in. The reasons are myriad. First, I'd argue that Rugby just isn't an exciting enough sport for the cinematic treatment and the audience (including me) lacks the understanding required for the montages to work. The film just pretends like everyone knows exactly what is going on with the game of rugby (or doesn't care), and just kind of glosses over everything in the rugby scenes. Second, this film can't decide exactly what it is. Is it a Mandela biopic? Not quite. Is it a story of the 1995 South African Springbok Rugby team? Not quite. Is it a story about healing, forgiveness and reconciliation? Not quite. It tries to be a story of two men, in Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar, and how the confluence of circumstances allowed them to make a great moment - but in trying to be all those other things, it tries to do and be too much, and stretches itself too thin, by failing to be great at any of these things. This film tries to do too much, and in so doing, fails to do anything spectacularly. It doesn't work as a Mandela character study, as an analysis of the mood in post-apartheid South Africa, or as a sports movie. In addition, the film appears almost amateurish at times... there are some simply AWFUL music choices, and a slow motion montage during one of the rugby matches just looks sophomoric and is about 30 seconds too long. The film also manages to fall victim to a common trap besetting films dealing with race relations and reconciliation, namely a tendency to stray into overdone, sometimes corny sentimentality. There are simply too many narrative streams going at once by the end of the film, leading no other option other than montages, which then fail to lend the proper gravitas to the films' conclusion.
While this film is deeply flawed, there are also some great scenes, some moving moments, and a truly terrific performance from Morgan Freeman.
This film would have been better suited to either go full bore for a Mandela biopic about the early years of his presidency with the Rugby in the background, or full bore for a sports movie about the Rugby team and world cup with Mandela in the background. This was a good movie, but deeply disappointing. What should have been one of the year's best turns into a frustrating, yet solid film that should have been so much more. In the hands of lesser talent, this would have been a fine effort, but I expect so much more from Eastwood and Freeman, especially with a story like this.
I enjoyed this film, but cannot say I was pleased or satisfied with the final product... if you go in with lowered expectations, you may think much higher of this one than I did.
6.5/10.
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