Too much of everything

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Great Film overall

A Masterpiece!

FIFA World Cup just started providing its share of thrills, joys, and deceptions. While I was watching the Moroccan team yesterday, my right foot was uncontrollably trembling, my heart pounding at the national anthem and everyone was glued to the screen with the kind of frozen expression that that only Sports can draw on faces. And tough memories resurfaced, twenty years ago, we had scored three goals against Scotland in one of "these games"; I was tying my shoes, everyone was getting ready to celebrate our qualification to the quarter finals in the street... but Brazil that had previously beat us with three goals against none, the World Champion and team of Ronaldo (bald Ronaldo, not Cristiano) lost against Norway in what should have been an open-and-shut case. A penalty kick at the last minute destroyed all hopes. My brother cried and I took off my shoes.Twenty years later, history, cruelly again, decided to repeat itself, at the last minute, in the worst possible way, one of our players scored against the team, earning Iran the precious victory and filling our hearts with bitterness. See, one can also understand the power of Sport from defeat, sport unites and brings back positive energy for a brief but exhilarating period. It also creates extraordinary bonds between people who had nothing in common except quivering for the same colors. Sports mark a truce, awakening feelings whose negative counterparts are nourished by war and political conflicts the rest of the time.Sport is essential to one country; it is essential to the world. And as I watched Clint Eastwood's "Invictus" one day before the kick off, I felt like I could read in the mind of Nelson Mandela, played in all nuance and depth by Morgan Freeman. What an ironically fitting name for an African leader who was quite the opposite of a "free man" for ten thousand days of his life. Indeed, some iconic artists achieved greatness and died in 27 years, for Mandela, it was the time spent in jail that allowed him to free his mind from hatred and resentment, to achieve his personal greatness through humility, forgiveness and humanity. The film starts at his release as he's cheerfully welcomed by black people while the whites expect the worst. "End Apartheid" was the slogan that the majority of today's population wouldn't remember, not even South Africans... but the miracle happened and Mandela, Madiba as he's respectfully and affectionately called, almost rhymed with Messiah. "Can he run a country?" asks a militant newspaper, Mandela's bodyguard sees a hate campaign but Madiba lucidly says "it's a legitimate question", he's already approaching his role as a unifier not a divider. Coming to office, he invites the skeptical whites to stay unless they think there are irreconcilable differences, what he does is giving them a choice, a freedom, a gift only a man of his experience could value. He also hires white bodyguards and their interactions with the previous team plays like a great microcosm of the reconciliation built up throughout the film, with the power of Sports. Because "Invictus" isn't a biography film as much as it's a Sports film. Mandela has great scopes of achievements... and failures as well, his prestige was a double-edged sword that can earn him hostility from the Afrikaners and when facing unemployment, poverty, and criminality, sports could be perceived as the least of the priorities. The genius of Mandela is to take sport damn seriously, he watches a rugby game and discovers that the Blacks support any team against the Springboks, he's booed by supporters who proudly brandish the old flag and concedes it's a constitutional right. But when he learns that the ANC is going to replace the team with a new name, new colors and hymn, he asks everyone to reconsider the vote, taking time to explain why they're wrong.Mandela wasn't just that all-smiling icon; like Gandhi, he was a natural-born leader. Warned by his secretary about the risk of losing his power, he reminds her that a true leader should be guided by his principles, not fears, he knows reconciliation is impossible without the Springboks. As much as the Whites must forget, the Blacks must forgive. It's not political but human calculation (one of the film's great quotes). Mandela then meets the team captain François Pinaar (Matt Damon) and the two men realize they speak the same language, François always wanted victory but after his pivotal encounter, he understands that the country, hosting the 1995 World Cup, needs the victory, sports don't just make people happy; it unites them in happiness. It was twice a miracle because because South Africa had to play against the iconic All-Blacks whose haka could scare enough to guarantee a victory. "Invictus" isn't just an underdog movie, it chronicles every single effort that made a miracle possible, because the miracle-maker was a miracle by himself. Visiting his cell, François realizes that he could touches two facing walls by simply spreading his arms. Anyone can survive 27 years of jailing, but can any soul? Mandela was the Captain of his soul as he was master of his fate and overcame his demons. François spreads the good word to the team, and like an apostle to a saint (but the film doesn't over-sanctify them) meetings are arranged with young Black kids from the poorer areas. And for once, they forget about soccer and learn about rugby not just from Chester, the only Black player.The team also they learn the hymn "Schosholoza", that haunting melody that reminded me of that magical World Cup in Africa in 2014. The team had to win, and they won, the rest was history. Mandela understood the magic of Sports and used it as a political tool but a human miracle.Maybe Morocco should watch this film before their next game against Portgual... after all, it ain't over until the referee blows his whistle.

Whenever I see the name "Clint Eastwood" associated with a new moving coming to theaters, I automatically think of such incredible films as Million Dollar Baby, Changeling, and Gran Torino. Perhaps I am just spoiled by Eastwood's spotless track record, but that is the reality of the situation. With that in mind, Invictus does not live up to the billing...but it still is a very honorable effort.Basically, the film takes place primarily in the country of South Africa, where Nelson Mandela (played superbly by Morgan Freeman) has come to power and is striving to bridge the gap between blacks and whites after decades of apartheid rule. Mandela seizes upon the country's terrible rugby team, stocked primarily by high-brow, burly white men, as a symbol of unity for the country. He tabs Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) to captain the team and make them respectable (if not a whole lot more) heading into the World Cup. The rest, as they say, is history.Now, I can't say that this film was outright bad in any way. The race-relations message is one that resonates, the rugby team is certainly inspirational, and the acting is pretty good as well, led by the remarkable Freeman as one of the world's most storied leaders. Yet, unlike "Torino" or "Baby", the word I would use to describe this film is "understated". Instead of walloping viewers over the head with such heavy topics as euthanasia, religion, or death, in this effort Eastwood takes a much more low-key approach. There is drama, yes, and plenty of inspiration, but it just doesn't feel as epic as it could have been. Whether this was Eastwood trying to "follow the facts" as much as possible, or the real-life story just not providing the high drama of a fully scripted film, I'm not sure.Thus, if you are heading to the theater expecting utter greatness like I was, you will likely leave disappointed. However, if the topics/events/times in the film are of significant personal or cultural importance to you, then Invictus will automatically garner a five-star rating for its factual portrayal of the events that transpired.

Sports are not my thing I've never been into them and find them boring, yet when I first heard about this movie I was extremely curious to seem if I could get over that an s for the most part I did I found this to be a very good film despite some major pacing issues. But by far the best thing about this movie are the performances from Damon and Freeman who both deservedly earned Oscar nominations for this movie, Morgan Freeman was so good in this movie not only was his accent extremely convincing but he also nailed the emotional turmoil that Mandela was going through your able to get completely behind him and Freemans performance was just overall inspiring. Matt Damon gives one of the greatest performances of his entire career in this film, he has a great parallel to Freeman and you get a sense of the similarities between them, Damon was great in the rugby scenes and also great and conveying how desperately he wanted to lead his team to victory and said like Freeman you were very easily able to get behind him. I never thought I could feel such intensity from a rugby match by my god I was on edge during every second of them because they take their time to build up the importance of winning this match and makes it all the more satisfying to watch. The relationships between the South Africans in this movie was a pleasure to watch it was done perfectly you understood all that these two peoples had been through and watching them gradually come to trust each other was fascinating and satisfying. However there are some flaws with this film and it's mainly the excruciatingly slow pace it works for the rugby scenes but outside that it's just makes scenes drag in majorly and it did bore me at time and make me just want them to get back to the rugby. This film also does lack some subtlety characters just seem to immediately say what their thinking instead of conveying it through a performance despite the fact that they could have used some of the dragged out scenes to build up some more investment. Invictus is far from a perfect movie but it has very good intentions, this film has two excellent performances from Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, well directed rugby scenes, a great political and racial story and some truly inspiring scenes. 78%/B+

Sports films usually leave me cold; I never watch sport in real life so watching it in film holds no appeal for me. However, this story of rugby in South Africa in the early 1990s holds plenty of appeal, thanks to expert direction from Clint Eastwood and an excellent performance from Morgan Freeman who embodies the spirit and persona of Nelson Mandela. It's the political backdrop that makes the sport interesting, and INVICTUS is a great film to watch as a result.The cinematography is particularly proficient here; I had the pleasure of watching this in high definition and it's a beautiful film to look at. Eastwood is on top form. The material is a little weaker, failing to explore the complexities of the situation and sinking into schmaltz at various points; Eastwood can't avoid evoking some sentimentality in scenes of stirring music playing and whites and blacks working together. It's not as bad as in something like VOLCANO, but it's there, and it's a bit condescending. Still, Matt Damon's on board and delivers another solid turn, and even the hardest of hearts will find much to enjoy here.