"Invictus"

This latest effort from megastar actor/director Clint Eastwood is just what the doctor ordered. At a time of world crisis when countries and governments and their respective people are at odds with one another, comes this incredible story of overcoming great obstacles.

The title, “Invictus”, comes from a poem by an English author named William Ernest Henley. Translated from the Latin, it means ‘unconquered’. The poem, about perseverance and being the master of one’s own destiny, was written from Henley’s hospital bed after his foot was amputated in an effort to save his life from the clutches of Tuberculosis of the bone. Nelson Mandela had written this poem on a piece of scrap paper that he kept in his prison cell during his 27-year incarceration.

The film stars the inimitable Morgan Freeman as Mandela, and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, captain of the Springbok rugby team. Mandela is just beginning his term as president and Pienaar is the leader of a floundering team whose stigma is a product of apartheid. In an effort to unite his country, Mandela enlists the team captain to lead his gang of misfits to an unlikely victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. In the film, Mandela gives Pienaar the scrap paper poem in hopes that the words which kept him going for nearly three decades in prison, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul”, would inspire Francois and the Springbok team to greatness. That, however, was not really what happened. Mandela had in actuality given Pienaar Teddy Roosevelt’s 1910 speech entitled “The Man In The Arena” (Google it… it’s worth reading). I for one will forgive Dirty Harry this minor imprecision.

I loved this movie. It was beautifully directed, capturing the time and the conflict and putting the audience right there in the scrimmage during the final rugby match (the slow-motion grunting was a nice touch). Even more so, it was wonderfully acted. Freeman is one of my favorite actors and easily in the top five of his generation. Damon was the big surprise for me. I almost always like him, but this time around, I thought his performance was even remarkable. And not just because I bought his South African accent either (I can do dozens of accents and impressions and can’t do South African). There were a few things I could have done without… namely a plotline that seemed to imply a looming assassination attempt, but I can understand that it made the film more appealing to the cold-hearted action movie fans who were dragged away from the insanely long “Avatar” lines to see a more sensitive film.

“Invictus” is as much about forgiveness as it is about beating insurmountable odds. It’s about looking forward and not looking back.

This movie is definitely worth the price of admission.