Invictus

Rather than show Nelson Mandela’s phenomenal but well-known ascent from prisoner to President of a reformed South Africa, Invictus his leadership style in action. He thought the 1995 Springbok World Cup campaign was a way to encourage unity between whites (staunch rugby followers) and the blacks (who viewed the Boks as a symbol of white ignorance). Mandela ignores his advisors, beats his own path and becomes obsessed with the game and success at the tournament. This is the film’s highlight as it offers a glimpse of what made him so great. Morgan Freeman is equal to the task. Despite our familiarity with Mandela, Freeman creates his own screen character with the gravitas to inspire.

Invictus makes an interesting choice by fusing a biopic with a sports drama, but the sports half is less successful. While there is a highly entertaining novelty to seeing familiar things on screen (even Jim Bolger gets a look in), many of the rugby scenes will seem tame and bizarre to New Zealand’s well-trained rugby-eyes. The Haka is mispronounced and as fearsome as a jig, while the All Blacks themselves are a motley bunch, out of place on a rugby field where the action feels awkward.

A bigger problem is Clint Eastwood’s heavy-handed sentimentality. He’s a straight-laced director who rarely misses the mark, but here a weepy soundtrack, hammy dialogue and blatant symbolic imagery (like a black hand and a white hand grasping the World Cup, in slow motion) undermine any of the film’s subtlety.