Invictus (2009)

Rating: 7/10 (13 September 2012)

Against all the odds, Nelson Mandela tries to inspire the South African rugby team to win the world cup in hopes of uniting a nation torn apart by racism.Luckily for Invictus' predictable story, it is handled by a real master of cinema. Eastwood certainly knows how to make movies. Like Any Given Sunday and Escape to Victory before it, Invictus had me engaged and entertained despite having no interest in the sport. Eastwood manages to inject some extra motivation by also concentrating on the political aspects of the story. The event itself starts to overshadow the characters, and Eastwood grasps for something a bit more thrilling with a number of red-herring assassin moments. It's solid movie making, with a couple of flat moments.