well intentioned but miscast

Rating: 3/10 (28 July 2010)

From a historical point of view it is interesting to see the transition of power from the white to black. But in the end it doesn't quite show how a mostly white rugby team winning a game helped to unify the country as a whole. The game just looks trivial compared to the problems of the country as a whole. Also the screenplay is simplistic in that Mandela's wisdom and saintliness is exaggerated here. He is unrealistically good here.
Clint's direction is as usual a little indulgent. The game at the end is too long.
Miscasting is the worst fault of this movie. Morgan Freeman's accent isn't that good - in fact it distracts from the movie. Maybe they could have found an African actor for the part. Matt Damon's accent is better but he is too small sized for a rugby player - it looks like they are trying to make him look bigger by using camera angles etc but it doesn't work.