MOVIE OF THE WEEK (12/11/09): INVICTUS
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Morgan Feeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Julian Lewis Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Louis Minaar, Danny Keogh, Leleti Khumalo and a bunch of other actors you also don't recognize by name.
WRITER: Clint Eastwood as adapted from the book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation by John Carlin
DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood
WEB SITE: www.invictusmovie.com
THE PLOT: Set in South Africa following the end of the Apartheid (which for the uninformed was the legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and early 1994 - thanks Wikipedia!), Invictus stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Recently freed from nearly 30 years of (what many would see as) wrongful imprisonment and stepping into his role as the first democratically elected president in the country's history. The challenges he faced were many, especially in regards to how to bring together a country whose people had lived apart for decades.
Meanwhile, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) has another problem - as the captain of South Africa's Springbok rugby team, he has come to a realization the team's fans already have: They, for lack of a better word, stink. With the World Cup coming up, the team needs to get its act together or the men in the famed green and gold will end up black and blue and feeling red all over.
And Mandela, who sees the team's fate as a rallying point for the nation, hopes to give Francois all the inspiration he needs in order to the team - and the country - to win it all . . .
THE TAKE: In talking about Invictus, let me talk about its four flaws first.
[1] Freeman, while not going to Kevin Costner-Robin Hood like extremes, doesn't always maintain his accent as well he could. Dave Chappelle has been known to do a pretty good Mandela accent (and is familiar with Africa as fans of his former TV show well know); Freeman's isn't bad, but it's not always good, either.
[2] The film, surprisingly for one written for the screen and directed by Clint Eastwood, portrays Mandela in a very, well, Jesus-like fashion at many turns - and that weakens the film unnecessarily at times.
[3] The first of the film's two hours feels a bit, well, slow. There is at least 15-25 minutes of footage that could be cut from the film and in turn, it would flow much more fluidly in terms of the experience for the audience; and
[4] The film smooths over most of the resistance to Mandela's struggles to achieve his mission. In relation to point no. 2, it seems like every time that he's faced with a challenge, it works out without there being much struggle. Seeing more of the conflict would help enhance the story, but instead the film prefers to focus on Mandela's ability to always know just what to say and how to say it.
That being said, Invictus succeeds due to the its overall entertainment value and the dynamic action featured in the film's sports scenes. If the film as a whole were shot with the intensity and pace of the rugby play, Invictus might be award-worthy as opposed to just being audience pleasing as a whole. Freeman delivers his usual solid performance and Damon (who does keep his accent consistently) turns out a solid effort as Francois.
The overall success in the film is not the film itself; no, that lies in the fact it might get people talking about a specific moment in time in hopes that it is never repeated. That, and inspiring a new generation of men and women to possibly play a game that is as rugged as any sport out there.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
Comments
Post a Comment