Amazing performances, meh film

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 2009)

This was a classic case of a film trying to do way too much. Things were skimmed, characters were left undeveloped, and the rugby (or so I'm told by people who know what they're talking about) was not very good.
The biggest problem is this film tried to skim over two incredibly interesting stories that are connected but not completely interrelated, and tried to make them one. On one hand, there is the South African rugby team, who rises to success to become world cup champions against incredible odds. Yet their victory is not explained or really explored at all besides having Nelson Mandela ask them to do win. On the other hand, there is Nelson Mandela, an interesting leader who decides to do everything in his government completely differently which includes attempting to unite people on severely opposing sides of an issue, sacrificing his family and his health in the process, but Mandela's problems are also barely touched on.
I give this film a seven, because despite some obvious weaknesses, it also has some great strengths. Morgan Freeman is absolutely fantastic. Every scene centered around him, and the political aspects of the story seems perfectly set, but that makes moments with the rugby team seem tacked on, especially considering that this is supposedly a story about a team that tries to bring its country together. The team seems to just come together and win, without any explanation and any opportunity for them to show their "togetherness" on-screen. Particularly disappointing was the fact that Matt Damon's character was really given nothing to do. Damon does his best, which considering what a wonderful actor he is, is a lot, but that just never takes off. I'd recommend seeing it, but I'd recommend waiting for the DVD.