Bland Retelling

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2010)

Having read extensively about the situation in South Africa and being a great admirer of Mandela, I was disappointed in this film. Yes, Morgan Freeman looks like and acts like the great president. Yes the events are portrayed in a relatively accurate way. It's just that there doesn't seem to be a great dramatic question. Nothing is portrayed on the edge like they need to be. The racial issue is there but it is pretty sanitized and almost cute at times. There are also some silly tricks that I won't mention because they would be spoilers. There are two ways to go with this biographical stuff. You can go all the way and get down and dirty (like the issues in Coetzee's "Disgrace"), or you can make it a moral tale with little taking place. The Rugby team needed some life and some real tension. There had to be more internal strife than that portrayed in this film. When it was over, my response was, "OK! Apartheid ended. What is the aftermath?" It isn't even quite there when it comes to sport. I also would like to have seen a little more explanation about the tension between Mandela and his daughter.