Invictus Reviews

Director Clint Eastwood truly hits the rock-bottom with this sports-drama of his.
After his brilliant Changeling, it is quite shocking to see how lazily this film is paced and put together. There are almost none of the familiar Eastwood-touches here and Invictus reminds me more like a work of an amateur than a veteran-director.
Sluggish pacing of the film is not nearly the only problem here. The whole concept of this film is awkwardly cliched and it ends up being just like twenty other big Hollywood sports-films we have seen before. And what in the world has made Eastwood use that embarrassing slow-motion so much. It felt like the last 30-minutes of this film is just corny slow-motion with bombastic sound-effects and annoying hero-music. But if that wasn't bad enough then just wait for the final "why can't we all get along" images hit the screen.
Certainly Eastwood's intentions are good but the presentation here sucks big time. Invictus is unfortunately one of Eastwood's worst films to date.

Sports movies usual have social/political redemption/justification as a subplot and Eastwood's entree here is no different, with racial equality thrown in on the side. You know the ending from the very first. And so its up to his leads to carry the weight of "its more than just a game" ballast, which Freeman and Damon admirably do w/o a problem. I learned a bit about rugby, and South Africa seems more of a welcoming place now, so its "mission accomplished!".

The true story of newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela making it his top priority to unite the nation thanks to a successful rugby team. Morgan Freedom is the obvious but perfect choice as Mandela and really turns into the politician, which is particularly difficult considering he is a contemporary celebrity many people are still familiar with. The film stays focused on the president, his ideals and small steps to get the white and black people of South African to overcome the years or resentment. So it's not until the second half that the movie follows the usual sports drama steps, but remains really well done. The sport scenes look realistic and well filmed, but for people unfamiliar with the game, the lack of commentary makes them look kind of arbitrary. That doesn't change the fact that the film is heading for a moving and satisfying climax. It's nice to see that sometimes history does make the right choices and people can change.

An admirably confident film from Mr. Clint Eastwood, Invictus is well-paced and brimming with convincing performances from the leads. Unfortunately, besides bringing Nelson Mandela's dramatic struggle to film, the pic failed to leave me with any other lasting impressions.

Putting Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, and director Clint Eastwood together in a sports film was a great idea, and it was successfully tackled in INVICTUS. Based on the book "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation" by John Carlin, as well as the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley, this film is truly brilliant, and it should have definitely won Morgan Freeman the Academy Award for Best Actor for his anyway-nominated role as Nelson Mandela. This praise is coming from someone who does not enjoy sports or sports films--remember that.

Invictus is one of the best acted films of 2010, and is a wonderful sports film. The plot is long but is truly a inspiring story and is worth watching if you ask me, it is a truly wonderful film. The cast is incredible, Morgan Freeman truly embodies Nelson mandella and I was wondering when they were going to make a movie about the one actor in the world who looks exactly like Nelson, and Matt Damon plays his role well and and good, they both were great. Overall the film may be too long, but its still a great movie and definently worth watching.

It is a political movie and no one could ever deny that. But it is also a sport movie, since Nelson Mandela, played as Morgan Freeman, who is one of the producers of this film, try to unite races through rugby. Morgan and Matt Damon give a solid performances here. Great insight in Mandela's achievements as a president. I didn't like it as much just because I'm not a fan of sports movie. But this is surely a touching movie that will inspire you to appreciate unity and victory better. Clint Eastwood is a great director when it comes to drama.

The score is a little cheesy but Morgan Freeman's performance as Nelson Mandela more than makes up for any forced sentimentality.

On paper, I though this one had Oscar all over it. Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Matt Damon in the supporting role. An inspiring story of a sports team facing adversity, and a quasi-biopic about overcoming racism. Set in South Africa during the ramp up to its coming out party on the global stage, the FIFA World Cup.

And it was a good film. But not nearly as good as I expected. On the whole I think it was just too flat. The acting was good, but the story was a bit tedious. The opening half was full of political manoeuvring and the final third was a loop of shots (game, crowd, people at home 1, people at home 2) set to overdramatic music that really sapped the powerful ending of most of its power. Maybe I oversold it to myself, but I feel like Eastwood just didn't hit as hard as usually does with this one. It's good enough, but from this director, I've gotten used to great. It happens, though. Scorsese's laid eggs (Bringing Out the Dead, Gangs of New York), so did even Billy Wilder (Sabrina); Invictus will stand the test of time, and it will remain watchable, but it's below Eastwood's usual standard.

'Invictus' is a beautiful movie with great acting, directing, and everything else you could ask for in a great movie. Very inspiring, and very heartwarming. Allow me to break it down. Acting: The actors managed to put on new accents quite convincingly. That itself is admirable. I was also glad to see they didn't compromise proper acting to pull of accents. Freeman and Damon fit into their characters comfortably and believably. The performances were flawless, and the actors show the fierceness and emotions of the characters they are playing. Overall, the acting wasn't magnificent, but it was pretty great. 80/100 The Story: The story puts a pretty creative twist on the sport drama genre. The fact they managed pull off conversing government issues along with an underdog story will please a majority of moviegoers. It may seem a bit slow to some, but it contained enough twists, touching moments, and powerful words to be a satisfying story. 60/100 The Plot: It's a bit hard to follow at first, but eventually you'll get caught up. It's hard not to esteem the careful weaving of this story, and you'll probably agree with me later when I tell you the plot passes. 69/100 The directing: The directing is not Eastwood's best, but then again, it would be difficult to outdo what he managed in 'Changeling' and other past works. That aside, one has to notice the casual beauty of the direction in Invictus. It is packed with gentle, meticulous touches. Each scene departure seems to leave you with a question that isn't directly answered. It is the most polished, intricately done direction I've ever seen in a movie like this. You can practically feel the emotion in the air of the scene right in the room you're watching it in. Overall, the direction was awesome. 81/100 Script/Screenplay: The words were very powerful and inspiring, and the characters movements were very carefully planned and done. It was all very stunning and memorable. I wish they would give a few tips to some of the sloppy, unorganized scripts and screenplays out there. 85/100 My favorite parts: Since most of the plot twists in this movie revolved around Mandela, (Freeman) I was excited when he came into scenes than made decisions that impacted the characters. It made me question my own character. Wow, me questioning my character. Overall: Overall, it's a touching, kind-of powerful, inspiring movie with great direction and a great script. Even if you don't love it, you got to admire it somehow. It's a great movie to invite friends over, make some popcorn, flop onto the couch, and then watch. Or, if you're all alone on a rainy day and want some entertainment. Even the kids will find something to love. This movie could be appropriately described as living up to "Invictus" standards. 75/100

It's not one of Eastwood's best, but it's a rousing, moving and inspirational drama with a spectacular performance by Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.

Clint Eastwood tries to give an inspiring account of the triumph of South Africa (Springboks) in 1995 Rugby World Cup, and how Nelson Mandela shows active interest and plays an important role in it with the help of the captain of the Springboks. More importantly, he displays how Nelson Mandela wants to diminish the racial discrimination by providing the encouragement in any which peaceful way possible. He views this cup as an opportunity to bring the citizens of different races closer. He interferes when his fellow members vote for changing the name 'Springbok' to 'Proteas' and explains them that this is the period for healing and development and not for revenge, and that the latter would only lead to destruction.

While I found the movie passable, I didn't find it interesting enough. The script fails the great acting performances put in by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Its predictability was not its only fault; it lacked the intensity to hold my interest thoroughly. It worked in fewer parts and failed in more parts.

despite some mild pacing problems that will probably effect the films rewatch-ability, invictus is a powerful and inspirational story of reconciliation that transcends its sports medium. both freeman and damon were very good, and the movie was filmed as well as one would expect from an eastwood film. not quite what the film could have been if it had been more about mandela and less about a singular event in his leadership, but eastwood succeeds at telling the story that he chose to tell.

Minor Eastwood, but still a very strong and inspirational sports film with a great performance by Morgan Freeman.

In typical Clint Eastwood fashion, this movie explores humanity and morality on a level deeper than what the film appears to be on the surface...a movie about a Rugby team. It's so much more. Although the true story is set in the mid-nineties, it is an important tale to be told again in 2010, as the conflict and struggle still exists in South Africa today. Morgan Freeman plays Mandela well, and Damon shines as the captain of the Rugby team. Extremely thought-provoking movie, when you consider the fact that Mandela spent 20 plus years in prison, only to practice forgiveness for those who locked him up in the first place.

Clint Eastwood never quits He seems gifted in making phenomenal films. Invictus is his latest offering, and is a terrific film. Invictus explores a post Apertheid South Africa as Nelson Mandela is released from prison and seeks to unite a seperated South Africa. Mandela discovers a potential idea by uniting his country with the sport of Rugby. A big theme in Invictus is burying racial tensions in a post Apertheid South Africa. Nelson Mandela seeks the help of Springboks Team leader,Francois Pienaar to unite the country. Invictus may at first be seen as a sports drama film, but the film touches on more important issues than simply sports. The other aspect that the film touches on is the racial tension between the Black majority and the White minority in a post Apertheid South Africa. The film in the end is about uniting a devided country using it's national sport. Invictus like every other Clint Eastwood film that has been released in the last couple of years is a film that is brilliantly told, acted and directed. For a film like this, it's very hard to ignore Eastwood's talent as a terrific storyteller. And in Invictus, he tells one of his most emotional stories since Letters From Iwo Jima. A fine film from start to finish, Clint Eastwood has managed to assemble a terrific cast of actors. Morgan Freeman is simply terrific in the role of Nelson Mandela, and if I may say so, it's one of his best roles of his career, no other actor could portray Mandela like Freeman did. Invictus is yet another Homerun for Clint Eastwood, he dlivers yet another solid film, though some may feel that a few actors may be miscast (Matt Damon) I though he was perfect for the part. Invictus is an inspiring film and is one of Eastwood best. Invictus deals with an important subject matter, and Eastwood's respect for the material shows on screen. A thought provoking film, Invictus is one of the best films of 2009.

A true look into the politics and nature of South Africa and its history.

I was hesitant to see this at first, as I feared it was just be an overly sentimental Oscar-bait "sports movie". It's actually quite better than that. It is sentimental, and it does sugar coat things to a degree, but it uses sports as a plot device, and isn't the South African version of The Mighty Ducks or something.

I liked that this movie actually seemed to try to put things into the context of history. With that said though, it helps to know something about Mandela, or South African history beforehand, as this film basically assumes you already have a clue. It gives general hints about things, but it's just better if you already get it since not much explaining takes place.

The performances are really good. I've been sying for any years that Freeman is a dead ringer for Nelson Mandela, so it was no surprise to me when I first heard that he was doing this film. Damon is also really terrific, and I liked that his part isn't really showy or scene stealing. I've been tolld that the accents are bad as is the casting, but I just have to take peoples' words for it.

This isn't a great movie, but it's still pretty entertaining and uplifting, and it's far less heavy handed than you'd might think, so yeah, go ahead and give this one a watch.

What can I tell you that isn't already know about this movie. Morgan Freeman 5 Stars, Clint Eastwood as Director 5 Stars, Movie 5 Stars. Bottom line is see this 5 star film.

Disappointing.There is something wrong with the movie when after 30 minutes,we dont care what will happen in the end.