13) Invictus

Invictus (2009)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Adjoa Andoh

Having been elected as South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandella understands that if his country is to move forward black revenge must be put aside in favour of racial cooperation, and he sees the Springboks upcoming tilt at the 1995 Rugby World Cup as the perfect opportunity to unify post-apartheid South Africa.

I love Clint Eastwood as a director. He's a critical darling at the moment, a favourite of the Academy and can hardly put a foot wrong. Since the early 2000s he has had an amazing streak of back to back quality films: Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters to Iwo Jima, Changeling, Gran Torino which earning him three Best Director nominations and three Best Picture nominations, with Million Dollar Baby winning both gongs. With the Oscar nominations coming out tomorrow, and the Best Picture field being increased to ten nominees it wouldn't be surprising if Invictus added to his list of nominations.

Morgan Freeman was hand picked a number of years ago as the man Nelson Mandela would like to see play him on screen. It was an obvious choice. Freeman is the only actor with the gravitas to play such an admired and respected figure. And he does not disappoint. Freeman's South African accent is decent, but more importantly he gets the unique pacing of Mandela's speech pattern right. He subtly transforms himself physically, managing to stand, walk and move like Mandela. His characterisation is supported by a wonderful collection of shirts which just scream Mandela. With the exception of a perfectly cast Matt Damon (is there anyone in Hollywood who looks more like a South African rugby player than Matt Damon?) the rest of the cast is nothing to write home about. The other rugby players in particular are a bit stilted. But 90% of the screen time goes to Freeman and Damon anyway so it is not really an issue.

Freeman had been trying for a number of years to bring a film version of Mandela's autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom to the screen but there was simply too much there. When he came across John Carlin's novel Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation, Freeman became the driving force in bringing the film that would become Invictus to the screen. It is a beautiful scenario for a film, using this single amazing episode as a basis upon which to explore the amazing person that is Nelson Mandela. Where a biopic of Mandela would just have too much ground to cover over a period of too many years, Invictus lets this particular episode in his presidency be representative of the whole, summing up everything that made him such a remarkable and inspiring leader for South Africa.

Invictus is a very good film, but it is not one of Eastwood's best. It is very uplifting and inspirational and will make you believe in the unifying power of sport, but doesn't have the depth and power of Letters to Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby or Mystic River. It is also a bit simplistic in how it deals with the problem of the racial turmoil in post-apartheid South Africa (the films triumphant ending gives a sense of 'happily ever after' which is definitely not the case). This film will get Oscar nominations, including probably a Best Picture nod, but I honestly can't see it winning the big one.