Invictus
2009
**½
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Julian Lewis Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Marguerite Wheatley, Leleti Khumalo, McNiel Hendriks
Nelson Mandela, the freshly elected President of South Africa, is determined to unite the divided host nation behind the Springboks in time for the 1995 World Cup. The problem is that the black majority does not embrace the all-white rugby team which symbolises Apartheid. Anthony Peckham's screenplay, which is based on John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation, blends real-life sports and politics into a well-meaning but bland drama which offers minimal dramatic tension. The saintly Mandela is the nicest person and noblest politician on the planet, and racial tensions vanish into thin air when the Boks go on a winning streak. The climactic rugby final has at least some tension, but it's way too long.
