Invictus (2009) [Blu-ray]
Biography | Drama | History | Sport

Taglines: His people needed a leader. He gave them a champion.

What does Nelson Mandela do after becoming president of a divided South Africa? He looks for hope of national unity and finds it in an unlikely place: the rugby field. Clint Eastwood directs an uplifting film about a team and a people inspired to greatness. Morgan Freeman is Mandela, who asks the national rugby team captain (Matt Damon) and his squad to do the impossible and win the world cup. Prepare to be moved - and thrilled.

Storyline: The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match. Written by alfiehitchie

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, April 28, 2010 -- Released from prison in 1990, anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) sets out to stop legal segregation and institute free, democratic elections in South Africa. But after fighting and campaigning his way into the presidency in 1994, he's immediately faced with an even more daunting challenge: assuaging fears, calming racial tensions, and showing his countrymen, white and black, that peaceful coexistence is within their grasp. While Mandela enacts several policy changes to begin the slow, seemingly impossible task of healing his nation, he soon turns his attention to the Rugby World Cup, a high-profile sporting event South Africa is scheduled to host the following year. In an unorthodox move, he approaches François Pienaar (Matt Damon), captain of a nearly all-white rugby team called the Springboks. Together, they take advantage of their people's love of sport to demonstrate how hard work, humility, and understanding can unite anyone, even two races divided by generations of hatred and bigotry. Based on John Carlin's 2008 book "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation," Invictus is much more than sports film; much more than a rote, inspirational genre pic. It bows when other films would rise and invites politics and social complexity into a realm that usually focuses on little more than The Big Game. Above all else, it paints nuanced portraits of both Mandela and Pienaar, emphasizing the nobility of their plight without sugarcoating the intricacies of their struggles.

But don't mistake Invictus for a sentimental tear-jerker or one-dimensional fluff. Under the ever-watchful eye of Eastwood and in the steady, oh-so-capable hands of Freeman and Damon, the Oscar-nominated film exudes integrity and believability. It doesn't gloss over the truth or worship its protagonists, nor does it present Mandela or Pienaar as infallible men. Instead, it tells the story of a people embroiled in conflict who overcome deep-seated prejudice to become a single nation. Mandela and Pienaar are certainly the focus of the film, but their actions merely inspire an idea; it's the people of South Africa who make that idea a reality. It's a fine line to be sure, but one Eastwood handles with the ease of a master filmmaker, transforming a larger-than-life figure like Nelson Mandela into a stalwart servant of change and nothing more. Screenwriter Anthony Peckham deserves serious credit as well. While he and Eastwood strip away a bit more of the story's historical and political context than I would have preferred -- a more elaborate three-hour film would have been a godsend -- his balance of personalities and themes, plotting and character development, and pacing and dialogue showcases the relevance of the tale and the import of its telling. With a clearly defined goal and a cinematic endgame if there ever was one, Peckham and Eastwood produce something as fascinating as it is moving, as cerebral as it is emotional.

Of course, it would all be for naught if it weren't for Freeman and Damon's quiet, decisive, and captivating performances. Damon, sporting a subtle yet distinguished prosthetic, plays Pienaar as an intelligent, thoughtful sportsman; a man more in tune with the needs of his country and the intricacies of its political landscape than your average bruised-n-bloody rugby captain. In a film about a dynamic world leader, his is the most thankless role, one that demands greater finesse in order to stand out. But Damon doesn't flair his nostrils or pound his chest. He choses to simmer rather than erupt, contemplate his decisions rather than dive into action, and embrace the spirit of the moment as readily as he does the gravity of its implications. And Freeman? As always, Freeman the performer disappears within minutes, replaced by Nelson Mandela himself. A wisdom rests just behind his eyes while a heaviness sits on his brow, a desperation tightens his fingers while a hope lifts the corners of his mouth into a knowing smile. Whereas Damon reflects and reacts from scene to scene, Freeman is given leave to motivate and command, two things the veteran actor has spent his career refining. That being said, their on-screen work is equally commendable, and together they lend power and presence to a film that deserves an endless quantity of both. Not every scene in Invictus leaves a lasting mark -- like Eastwood's previous project, Gran Torino, not everyone in the director's supporting cast is as natural and at ease as his A-list talent -- but it hardly matters. Damon, Freeman, and the compelling story of Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar make every minute of Eastwood's latest film worth watching.

Invictus is a relevant, powerful film bolstered by a gripping story, a memorable script, and a pair of outstanding performances. With Eastwood at the helm and Freeman and Damon manning the sails, it sheds genre convention and earns its stripes as a tribute to two men who altered the course of a nation. Warner's Blu-ray release is impressive as well. Its video transfer is faithful and filmic, its DTS-HD Master Audio track is reserved but wholly effective, and its supplemental package, though only three-and-a-half-hours long, is incredibly extensive and satisfying. Invictus may not be the best film of 2009 (or even one of the top ten films of the year), but it does deserve all the attention it gets.

[CSW] -5- In a performance of sly charm by Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Pienaar the Rugby team captain working to also inspire, Clint Eastwood pulled off an excellent must see at least once movie.

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