Invictus

Viewer Rating:simonconnolly has rated Invictus rating: 4 Star

A lot of people were rather upset by the news that Clint Eastwood was to quite acting and concentrate solely on developing his directing career in the future. I on the other hand was quite excited as to be honest I think he is a far better bahind the camera than in front of it. His directed works make up quite an outstanding collection. Mystic River, Changeling, Unforgiven, Letter for Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino. Some of the best films we've seen this decade and every one of them with Clint at the helm. So it is no suprise that Invictus has been gathering a lot of excitement and Oscar buzz. And at this stage Eastwood knows he is one of the Academy's favourites, and I really don't think he could've picked a more Oscar friendly project. It's the story of Nelson Mandela using his new position as President of South Africa to unite the people of the country with the nations rugby team. Now this may not sound like the most interesting story but Clint Eastwood has made a great film from it. I personally had high expectations yet it somehow exceeded all these expectations. I figured it would be a political film with a bit of sport but thankfully it was actually more of a sports movie with a bit of politics. It moves along swiftly and the films events unfold naturally. This smooth progression makes the film a gripping and easy to watch film. The film also allows us to easily engage in the films event and by the end I found myself using all my willpower not to jump up and start sheering at the screen. I got a real patriotic feeling despite not being South African in any way. The film is not only powerful and unbelievably inspiring but also informative, touching and visually stunning. It is a real crowd pleaser and will appeal to so many people. When this is released there will be rugby fans, South Africans, Film fans, politicians and many more. Eastwood knows what people want and he delivers on all counts. Eastwood also manages to tackle many themes without things becoming unfocused, which is difficult to do. What I found most impressive was how well he did the whole racial tension thing. There are so many films out there which tackle the theme of race but there aren't a lot which do it without coming off a bit pretentious. Eastwood however did it wonderfully and made the film a more intimate and enjoyable film. The cast of the film were quite impressive too. Nelson Mandela is played on screen by Morgan Freeman, but really no one else was going to get that role. He did do a phenomenal job and this will go down as one of the best displays of his career. He was suprisingly convincing and had a strong on screen presence. He has no chance of winning an Oscar for this but he will definitely receive a nomination. Matt Damon on the other hand I thought was a bit dull. It seems to me that he can't act without a gun in his hand and an assassin on his tail. When it comes to these more serious, character driven films he just doesn't impress me. He was better in this than he has been in some past displays but generally I was not impressed, and his terrible accent really didn't help. So all in all Invictus is an engaging, and thoroughly enjoyable film about a great time in history. I would recommend this for anyone cause odds are you will be part of the target audience. It is beautifully captured, very well directed and generally well performed. It tackles a lot of themes but balances them well and never becomes too hectic or unfocused. Freeman and Eastwood both make a world class input to the film and will surely be recognised come Oscar season.

Review published on the 24 January 2010 00:43