'Feel-good' race relations flick or extended rugby highlight reel? Take your pick!

Rating: 5/10 (24 December 2009)

'Invictus' is designed to be a 'feel-good' movie about relationships between blacks and whites. The setting is South Africa beginning with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 and his subsequent ascent to the South African presidency a short time later. Morgan Freeman does a great job in 'channeling' the great man and you really feel as if you're watching Mandela himself. When the Oscars come up, Freeman has a very good shot at copping the Oscar for Best Actor.
Clint Eastwood's strategy is to depict Nelson Mandela's program for racial reconciliation through the narrow prism of International Rugby. While there are a few interesting glimpses of Mandela interacting with his main assistant and some of his counselors, little of his personal life is shown (there is a brief scene where he's depicted as being alienated from his daughter who regards him as something of a sell-out). By the second half, Mandela is reduced to being basically a cheerleader for the South African Rugby team. Still, the sheer humanity of Mandela is always at the forefront, with his emphasis on forgiveness.
I liked the first half of Invictus better than the second. There's a good scene where Mandela tries to persuade a group of his constituents (a Sports Federation) not to disenfranchise the rugby team. Mandela, in Christ-like fashion, urges the crowd to 'turn the other cheek' and support the team despite their identification of the white players with the apartheid era. Despite their initial rejection, blacks in South Africa gradually come to root for the team. One way they're won over is after Mandela asks the team to tour the shanty towns and introduce rugby to poor black children. It helps that there's one black player on the team who becomes a national figure. But when Mandela visits the team before a big game and congratulates each player individually, he's sending a signal that he's for whites as much as blacks. And the white players (who are initially depicted as being quite alienated and angry after Mandela becomes President) gradually soften up too: in one poignant scene, they go on a tour of the prison where Mandela was held for 27 years. Later they're not afraid to sing the new South African anthem with their black countrymen.
Less successful are the scenes involving Mandela's bodyguards. The tension between the black and white bodyguards at the beginning is quite understandable. But virtually none of the characters are ever fleshed out. It takes a team victory in the Rugby World Cup to get them all hugging one another. But the camaraderie seems quite superficial. One wonders if everyone will be so touchy-feeley once all the excitement has worn off.
Invictus completely loses steam in the second half. There's virtually no suspense since the film's outcome is a forgone conclusion. What's worse is that the idea of an antagonist is lost as the film plods along. The tension between blacks and whites is palpable at the beginning but as the focus shifts to the rugby team itself, where is the conflict? Good movies have a moment where the protagonist faces a moment of crisis leading to a 'dark moment of the soul'. The best Invictus offers us is when Mandela collapses after being overworked. It's not enough!
The awkwardness of the entire screenplay is embodied in the relationship between the team captain, Francois Pienaar, played by Matt Damon, and Mandela. They have one scene together when Mandela invites Pienaar to tea. We find out next to nothing about Pinaar but maybe that's because there's not a lot to find out. Damon runs around a lot on the field but only briefly confronts his teammates who are initially reluctant to embrace Mandela's plan for reconciliation. Again, where is the conflict?
As an American who is unfamiliar with the rules of rugby, I was bored watching scene after scene of grown men groping one another without protective equipment. Since Eastwood really had no exciting climax to offer, he pads the last twenty minutes of the film with what I would term an extended 'highlight reel'. For rugby aficionados, this might prove to be orgasmic. As for ignorant Americans such as myself, I never thought I'd be desperate to tune into next Sunday's football game so quickly.
Some have claimed that Invictus is just another film about race relations from the white man's perspective. Maybe so but I prefer to view it as primarily a mediocre sports film. On the plus side, if one wishes to feel good without thinking too hard, then one can indulge oneself in this rather superficial glimpse of racial harmony. While Invictus fails in the drama department, Morgan Freeman's performance as the great and inspiring Mandela will make you look at race relations from the glass being half full and not half empty.