Invictus

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

Written By: Anthony Peckham

Starring: Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Director of Photography: Tom Stern, Editors: Joel Cox and Gary Roach, Production Designer: James Murakami, Original Music: Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens

Rated: PG-13 for brief strong language.

    At its core, the most frustrating thing about Invictus at first seems to be the fact that Nelson Mandela’s complex and dynamic life, has finally been brought to screen in a story about the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Rugby?

    However, the story of Mandela’s push to unite the country through rugby is an interesting and surely inspirational one, and one that captures a unique period in Mandela’s life. It tries to contextualize in the story in a political calculations of uniting the country instead of petty revenge. And with Morgan Freeman in the main role, what could be better?

    My main appeal to see Invictus though was director Clint Eastwood, who is a surprising director for this material. Mr. Eastwood has been characterized by many as one of the few filmmakers who still takes on American stories in the most American sense. His stories are dark, complex, and provide no easy answers. Invictus is none of these—screenwriter Anthony Peckham has crafted a crass examination of hope and inspiration, and Mr. Eastwood’s often subtle compositions are substituted by bright and bold shots of crowds and speeches.

    This is not to say Invictus is a bad picture—the film opens with Mandela taking presidency and dealing with the problem of attempting to create reconciliation in a country where both sides are out for blood. Mandela makes small steps, but soon realizes that he needs one swift move that can symbolically unite the country. He chooses rugby—a sport hated by the blacks and with a team that can’t seem to put a single point on the field.

    Mandela then brings in a buff Matt Damon, who plays the team’s captain Francois Pineaar, and asks him to win the World Cup. It seems like an absurd notion, but Pineaar takes it to heart and tries to inspire his team and Mandela sets out to inspire his nation.

    One can probably guess where Invictus heads from there, and some of it is entertaining, most particularly the rugby matches themselves. Mr. Eastwood provides the right amount of detail that someone who has never watched can make sense of the rules, and shoots them up close and in gritty detail. However, the more interesting part of Invictus are the political scenes, and make up much more of the early part of the film, are the best. Yet with a huge number of inconsequential side plots, Invictus’s script feels much too overdone for a story that demands subtlety, which Mr. Eastwood’s direction unfortunately does not supply. By the end of the film, Mr. Eastwood settles for long, slowed down montages, and swelling music than real emotions.

    At the center of it all is Mr. Freeman. The actor has played presidents, mentors, and God, and has worked hard to bring a project of Mandela to the screen. He gives a strong performance, capturing the accents and leaving some underplayed emotions, but Invictus’s story is so predictable and not insightful enough about the story that it makes Mr. Freeman’s passion project a slight bore. After all, who wants to watch a film about rugby?