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Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Invictus (2009)
Posted on 5:56 PM by Paolo
'Invictus' Review
By Paolo Sardinas
Many filmmakers would argue that their talent and work gradually become worse as they age. Clint Eastwood is the complete opposite of that. The man has starred in a cornucopia of classic films and has directed some of the best films of the last twenty years and of the decade. His films can balance between crowd pleasing entertainment, and Oscar gold. His latest film, Invictus, leans more towards the former. Its both your average underdog story yet at the same time, it isn't.
The film is based on South Africa's real life triumph during the 1995 Rugby World Cup . The film follows a bond that is made between star player Francois Pionaar (Matt Damon) and Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman). Mandela sees the opportunity in attempting to unit the black and white problems of his torn South Africa. The team, Springboks, are the underdogs and it just so happens that South Africa is hosting the games. Mandela has just been freed after serving 27 years in prison and has been elected president of South Africa. Springboks has one white player, the rest are black. This of course poses a problem for the racially divided country which finds its blacks often rooting for the opposite team. Mandela calls on Pionaar for help in order to form a "rainbow nation".
Invictus doesn't spend time on the details. It doesn't way itself down with soapy inspirational nonsense that has no business being in the movie. It doesn't focus on how the game changed certain people's lives, which I wouldn't of minded seeing, but rather how it changed a nation. This is both a pro and a con. Pro: The film doesn't waste anytime on nonsense. Con: It doesn't take enough time to delve into it's characters and really show us what they're thinking and what they truly believe. But this proves to be only a minor flaw as the acting done by Freeman and Damon help to save the day.
Freeman is an absolute joy to watch. I mean really, come one, can you picture any one else playing Mandela? I can't. Freeman does it with enough pride and detail to make you believe he's the real deal. The chameleon actor delves deep into his character even though the movie doesn't and delivers one of the year's best performances. Matt Damon, as the bulked up, blonde haired, rugby captain, is good but not perfect. While he creates a believable character, he wouldn't be my first choice to play Pionaar. But at least Damon is proving that he's the next generation of character actors and has another film to add to his expanding resume. One which includes one of the year's best performances for The Informant! Both actors do a fine job of complementing the other and make the film a true joy to watch.
The film is based on the book written by John Carlin called "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation." While some would argue that its script is bit underdeveloped I thought it was perfectly fine and delivered plenty of good dialogue while complementing these actors' immense talents.
Director Clint Eastwood, who will be turning 80 next May, does well in capturing the film in full detail. Many, including myself, never thought that Eastwood would be able to pull out an "inspirational film" out of his sleeve. But hey he did. At times the movie may not feel as finely tuned as some of his other pictures. And just because it's a Clint Eastwood film doesn't mean it's perfect. Invictus has its fair share of flaws and problems. It could have dug deper into the characters and the soundtrack could of been a bit better. Also visually the film doesn't have the same tone as some of Eastwood's other movies.
With all that aside, Invictus does what its supposed to do. Entertain. Its a crowd pleasing movie that doesn't pretend to be, or mean, anything more than what it is. While it may not be as inspirational as some might of led it to be, it does offer us one of the better sports movies made in a long time. Invictus doesn't try to say that this one Rugby game healed all of the countries wounds, but hey at least it was a start.
Grade: B+
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