Invictus – A worthy Mandela biopic?

When Nelson Mandela was asked who should play him in a movie of his life, his unequivocal answer was Morgan Freeman. You can’t get a much better recommendation than that. 

Invictus deals the portion of Mandela’s life after he takes up the Presidency. Sensing a country still hugely divided, he identifies rugby (formerly a symbol of white hierachical society) as a potential unifying force and approaches the Springbok captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) to help bring the two sides together under one country, one World Cup.

Freeman is a very understated actor, able to convey a lifetime of emotion in a single look. He encapsulates the great man brilliantly, capturing his diction and heartwarming smile without attempting a perfect characterization. Presenting who he was and what he represented is more important than what he looks like.

Despite his diminutive stature compared to the real man, Damon makes an excellent Pienaar, bulking up, capturing the accent and portraying a man whose sport has taken on a greater significance.

Sports movies are always difficult to portray on the screen. Although director Clint Eastwood makes a good stab at capturing the intensity of rugby, keeping the camera at pitch level, if you’re no fan of the sport, nearly half an hour of action may bore you senseless – especially a final match lacking much excitement in the tries department.

Eastwood’s dispassionate direction does not help. It occasionally feels like just another movie, which given its truly astounding tale, is a little disappointing. Yet for Freeman’s performance alone this is well worth a watch.