Film: Invictus
Starring: Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption) and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting)
U.S. Release: 2009 (rated PG-13)
Director: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino)
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 133 Minutes
I feel that unlike most people in the United States, I have a decent understanding of the worldwide sport Rugby. I had a roommate in college who was a very talented player, and I went to see our club team play quite often. That being said, you don't have to be Rugby savvy to follow the legendary Clint Eastwood's latest oscar-nominated film, Invictus. However, knowing a thing or two about the game didn't hurt either.
Invictus takes place in the early 90s in South Africa where the political prisoner Nelson Mandela (Freeman) is finally released from jail. Despite much racial turmoil, Mandela successful wins the South African presidential election and vows to unite the longtime hostile country. In his first term, Mandela uses the predominant white sport, Rugby, to lure in black fans. With the help of the team captain Francois Pienaar (Damon), the Rugby team's glorious run at a World Cup Championship bonds the racially divided county.
I have always been an avid Morgan Freeman fan. His past performances in The Unforgiven, Shawshank Redemption, and Gone Baby Gone have always enabled me to hold him in the highest regard. As usual, Freeman gives a superb performance as the newly elected president, Nelson Mandela. Matt Damon also does a nice job as the face of South Africa's premier Rugby team. Eastwood's direction is above average, but the downfall of Invictus lies in the story itself. Eastwood spends 2 hours and 15 minutes telling a story of a segregated country that must unite to move forward in a progressing world. However, the general public's ignorance to South African history and lacking interest in the sport of Rugby, make Invictus a difficult sell. When a film is up against odds like that, a runtime well over 2 hours is never going to help.
I personally found Invictus to be both entertaining and thought provoking. However, I'd be very careful with whom I suggest this movie to. So to enjoy this picture you must first be a fan of history. Not only U.S. history, but world history. Next, you must have a tolerance for movies that aren't necessarily fast-paced. The story line continually moves, but the individual scenes are sometimes slow to develop. Finally, you must be open to movies about topics you may have little background knowledge about. Rugby isn't a very popular sport in the U.S. so I expect most people will get easily confused by the game time scenes. However, if you feel like you are open to these three "criteria", then do yourself a favor and give Invictus a shot.
Watch Invictus if you enjoyed: Million Dollar Baby. I noticed a lot of similarities between the two epic Eastwood films. Both are about sports the general public knows little about (Women's Boxing and Rugby), however, both tell wonderful stories or redemption and triumph.
Stars: 2 and a half out of 4.
Starring: Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption) and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting)
U.S. Release: 2009 (rated PG-13)
Director: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino)
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 133 Minutes
I feel that unlike most people in the United States, I have a decent understanding of the worldwide sport Rugby. I had a roommate in college who was a very talented player, and I went to see our club team play quite often. That being said, you don't have to be Rugby savvy to follow the legendary Clint Eastwood's latest oscar-nominated film, Invictus. However, knowing a thing or two about the game didn't hurt either.
Invictus takes place in the early 90s in South Africa where the political prisoner Nelson Mandela (Freeman) is finally released from jail. Despite much racial turmoil, Mandela successful wins the South African presidential election and vows to unite the longtime hostile country. In his first term, Mandela uses the predominant white sport, Rugby, to lure in black fans. With the help of the team captain Francois Pienaar (Damon), the Rugby team's glorious run at a World Cup Championship bonds the racially divided county.
I have always been an avid Morgan Freeman fan. His past performances in The Unforgiven, Shawshank Redemption, and Gone Baby Gone have always enabled me to hold him in the highest regard. As usual, Freeman gives a superb performance as the newly elected president, Nelson Mandela. Matt Damon also does a nice job as the face of South Africa's premier Rugby team. Eastwood's direction is above average, but the downfall of Invictus lies in the story itself. Eastwood spends 2 hours and 15 minutes telling a story of a segregated country that must unite to move forward in a progressing world. However, the general public's ignorance to South African history and lacking interest in the sport of Rugby, make Invictus a difficult sell. When a film is up against odds like that, a runtime well over 2 hours is never going to help.
I personally found Invictus to be both entertaining and thought provoking. However, I'd be very careful with whom I suggest this movie to. So to enjoy this picture you must first be a fan of history. Not only U.S. history, but world history. Next, you must have a tolerance for movies that aren't necessarily fast-paced. The story line continually moves, but the individual scenes are sometimes slow to develop. Finally, you must be open to movies about topics you may have little background knowledge about. Rugby isn't a very popular sport in the U.S. so I expect most people will get easily confused by the game time scenes. However, if you feel like you are open to these three "criteria", then do yourself a favor and give Invictus a shot.
Watch Invictus if you enjoyed: Million Dollar Baby. I noticed a lot of similarities between the two epic Eastwood films. Both are about sports the general public knows little about (Women's Boxing and Rugby), however, both tell wonderful stories or redemption and triumph.
Stars: 2 and a half out of 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment