Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

BOPHA! you SUCKA! I wasn't really sure if I'd like the movie -- and I certainly did not. A film that knocks you out just after watching it. Not for the squeamish. Whatever you may have seen in your life or even whatever you will see in the future, I can predict that no movie will ever give you the same feeling as this. The screenplay is intelligent, focused and clever. I much enjoyed this film, mostly because of the convincing characters, especially the man with "man manners." I'll be honest, I have never been courageous enough to watch a movie like this. It's worth seeing for some inventive uses of sound and the actors. Final rating equals 7/10.

-SPOILERS- ------------PLOTMicah Mangena (Danny Glover) is a police commander of town Moraro in South African Republic in 1980, where Apartheid is still the only way of life. He loves his job and does it the best he knows how (which in his mind means following orders to the letter). De Villiers (Malcolm McDowell) is a chief of Special Units Team, witch arrive in town, because of the rising danger of protest, which might spread from areas around Moraro. At the same time, new generation of cadets is about to become part of SAP (South African Police) core. Micah's son is one of them, but has great doubts about his future employment. Soon everything will start to change dramatically, when secret student meeting, inspired by an idea of change, occurs.-----------To quote the beginning of the movie: In Zulu language Bopha means detention. In movie, every protester, who is captured by the police is being on indefinite detention (until special forces say he can go).Danny Glover is just great. He plays perfectly, a man who did his job for so long with so much heart, that he is unable to react properly, when that same job becomes a machinery of oppression. There are three things you can do in Moraro, in his opinion. Work in mine in slave like condition, to be without a job, and to be a member of SAP (as the most honorable of three)... He does the job to support his family, but ironically that same job will endanger it in the end. Vicious Malcolm McDowell is also great and a perfect cast for a mercy-less representative of Pretoria and hunter for leaders of student protests. The rest of the cast is also very impressive. They all try to pull out the SA accent and this gives a lot credit for a realistic representation. The screenplay, has a few small illogical turns, but it is a very strong writing... The movie is based on a play by Percy Mtwa, that made a lot of unrest in those days (20 years ago)...Morgan Freeman as a director (this is new) does also a fine job. He made a fine peace of human drama and it goes side by side with Hollywood products, with obvious smaller budget, but without pathetic moments. To bad Mr. Freeman didn't continue to direct. If you like human right movies and family dramas this is for you... I give 8 to this movie.

This is an absolute must-see movie for anyone who is interested in the apartheid era in South Africa. The story is seen largely through the eyes of Micah (Danny Glover), a black police sargeant whose job is to keep order in a black township. Micah is proud of his police work. It has fed his family and given them a standard of living higher than anyone else's in the area. It has also made him a traitor in the eyes of his own people, and we see him eventually coming into conflict with the younger generation of blacks in particular, who don't see his job as anything noble. To them he is a "Judas" - betraying his own people. Increasing defiance of the apartheid laws by the young people eventually brings in special forces officers from Pretoria (Malcolm McDowell is excellent in this role) whose ruthless tactics eventually have even Micah questioning his role in enforcing the laws.Glover was superb in this movie, excellently portraying the confusion building inside Micah as everything he has built his life on up to this point begins to crumble. Alfre Woodard also put on a strong performance as Micah's wife Rosie, who finds herself ostracized from the community because of her husband's job.The evils of apartheid are clearly shown in this movie, and having seen it, one marvels at the fact that in the end apartheid was so quickly set aside and a modern and democratic South Africa under majority rule was so easily established. Be warned that the South African accents used in the film can be at times a little difficult to follow, but that's a small price to pay for one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.9/10

Bopha! is just a fine film with stellar acting. Once again Danny Glover delivers a great performance the worthy of Oscar or Golden Globe and he just doesn't get it. The struggle of one man's fight to be true to his native land or to the ruling establishment is poignantly portrayed. Alfre Woodard and Malcolm McDowell turn in good performances also.