Morgan Freeman is uniquely qualified to play Nelson Mandela. He has, during his career, already portrayed a South African, a President, and a man who has spent decades in prison. In Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Invictus, he finally gets to play all three at once, helped in large part by his somewhat better than passing resemblance to the famous leader. But, refreshingly, Invictus departs from the standard bio-pic structure and focuses on a specific event, the 1995 Rugby World Cup and Mandela’s encouragement of the almost-all-white South African team.

The early years of post-apartheid South Africa would most certainly have been very different were it not for a president with a zealous insistence on forgiveness and reconciliation between the country’s blacks and whites. Freeman interprets Mandela as an exceptionally philosophical and curious leader, taking time to study seemingly insignificant trends and details in his nation that might help to serve the needs of justice and change. This philosophy and curiosity is expressed in his meeting with Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), the South African rugby captain, when the two men sit down and discuss the merits and strategies of good leadership and inspiration.

Where Invictus really shines is in its humor and optimism, reflecting not only the extraordinary historical reality of Mandela’s presidency, but also Eastwood’s passion of late for the themes of racial integration and reconciliation. While it doesn’t have the intimacy or brusqueness of his last film, Gran Torino, he is actually exploring very similar territory here. And while it certainly qualifies as an inspirational sports movie, don’t get your hopes up about understanding rugby after watching it. Only one of the sport’s rules actually gets across: that you can’t pass the ball forward, only behind you or sideways. There might be a metaphor in there. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Biography/Drama/History/Sport

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 5/18/10

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