Political sports movie. What did you expect?

Rating: 3/10 (28 December 2009)

Sure Freeman was good, but whatever. I was hoping that "Gran Torino" was an aberration for Eastwood, but this is actually worse. Even for those who find inspiration in films like "Rudy" or "Big League" this may be a stretch. OK, the Springboks surprising win was a unifying event for SA, but why make a big budget movie out of it? For a sports film, the rugby scenes are shot well and the stadium crowd is believable. However, somehow there is little reward in rooting for the underdog. Rugby remains foreign to North America and to set a political drama around it, is not engaging. Considering the Hollywood heavyweights involved, the story of South African racial tensions of the last 40 years could have been addressed more poignantly than through a whimsical sports drama.