Invictus (2009)

Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Anthony Peckham (screenplay), John Carlin (book)

Stars:

Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Morgan Freeman	...	Nelson Mandela
Matt Damon	...	Francois Pienaar
Tony Kgoroge	...	Jason Tshabalala
Patrick Mofokeng	...	Linga Moonsamy
Matt Stern	...	Hendrick Booyens
Julian Lewis Jones	...	Etienne Feyder
Adjoa Andoh	...	Brenda Mazibuko
Marguerite Wheatley	...	Nerine
Leleti Khumalo	...	Mary
Patrick Lyster	...	Mr. Pienaar
Penny Downie	...	Mrs. Pienaar
Sibongile Nojila	...	Eunice
Bonnie Henna	...	Zindzi
Shakes Myeko	...	Minister of Sport
Louis Minnaar	...	Springbok Coach (as Louis Minaar)

Storyline

The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.

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Plot Keywords:

rugby | south africa | nelson mandela | president | apartheid | 

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Taglines:

He was a prisoner who became a president. To unite his country, he asked one man to do the impossible.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [France] Warner Bros. [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Afrikaans Maori Zulu Xhosa Southern Sotho

Release Date:

11 December 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Human Factor

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,068,388 (UK) (5 February 2010)

Gross:

$37,479,778 (USA) (19 March 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Spyglass Entertainment, Revelations Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nelson Mandela's personal assistant, Zelda La Grange, complimented the work of production designer James J. Murakami and his team: "I know the house so well and they recreated it to perfection. The environment even felt the same. And then I heard Morgan Freeman speak - I didn't see who it was at first - and I thought, 'Now how did Mr. Mandela get here?'"

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Goofs

The major plot point and title for the film are erroneous since, in reality, it was not "Invictus" but Theodore Roosevelt's "The Man in the Arena" speech that Nelson Mandela gave to Francois Pienaar for inspiration.

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Quotes

[first lines]
High School Boy: [seeing passing motorcade] Who is it, sir?
High School Coach: It's the terrorist Mandela, they let him out. Remember this day boys, this is the day our country went to the dogs.

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, while the actors name are displayed, a photo of the real person whom they portray in the movie is shown.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Michael Jackson's This Is It/The House of the Devil/Gentlemen Broncos (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Colorblind"
(2009)
Written By Daniel Po
Performed by Overtone and Yollandi Nortjie

User Reviews

Well Made, But Completely Forgettable

Nelson Mandela has been released from prison and was voted as the South African president. Wanting to unite his country, he found a way to do so with rugby and in the South African team captain, Francois Pienaar.

Morgan Freeman was born to play this role, he knew so, and that's why he produced this film. A dream project of his, waiting for someone to take the job of directing, his old friend Clint Eastwood steps in. Who says no to Clint? Especially Freeman, who under Eastwood's direction won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Invictus, William Ernest Henley, which is read by Mandela in the film, is well crafted and has a strong lead role. Unfortunately, the film is a by the numbers product that you seem to forget once you leave the theatre.

My main problem with the film is the lack of emotion. I couldn't care for any of the characters in this film, save for Freeman, who as I stated does an excellent job. Matt Damon, who is shown on the poster, has the supporting role here. But he is given absolutely nothing to do except play rugby. His character has no story to him, but aren't we suppose to believe in him? After all, Mandela does. He gives him inspiration to win the world cup. Matt Damon does an alright job, but nothing worth mentioning. The same goes for the rest of the cast, they seem to be there just because the story is based on real life.

Eastwood knows how to direct a film, the Academy seems to think so too, so you know going into it that it well be well crafted. This is Eastwood's first step into a semi sports movie genre. The sport is rugby, and after watching the film, I still have no idea how to play it. The final act of the game is in slow motion as well, clichéd? You know it. You can hear every grunt from every player. It is elongated to the point of annoyance. The rugby sequences did not pull me in, nor did I care for who was going to win. It doesn't feel like he is trying to step out of his comfort zone either. It feels like an Eastwood movie, take that as you want.

The best parts of the film, are when Freeman commands the screen. His presence is more interesting and entertaining than any of the rugby scenes. Speaking of a rugby scenes, I must say that every 'epic' shot of the fans in the stands looked horribly fake. At some points I thought I was watching a PS3 game. It really took me out of the experience of the film.

If the film were a bit shorter and more focused (is it a sports film or character driven film?) than I could maybe invest my interest. It seemed to balance both as nice as it could, but ultimately gave out to one more than the other and unfortunately it's the weaker part. Eastwood chooses to sidestep more important things in the film. Is this because of the script? Are we suppose to want to keep watching Mandela inspire a rugby team to unite nation? The racial undertones are there at the beginning, then completely forgotten. In the end, I wanted more from this film.

The film is not bad, it's moderately good. Some scenes are actually inspiring, but that's more because of Freeman and not the generic script. I guess I wanted a little bit more from this one. Everyone involved made it seem like it should have been a great success, instead it comes off as something that everyone just decided to throw together. This is another film that belongs in that category of good, but not good enough for me to want to recommend it to you for theatre viewing.