Poll Position: Invictus (2009)

Another Monday, another poll winner gets watched! This time Invictus was the winner, narrowly edging out Speed Racer. It was a really close race at the end, but Speed just couldn't catch up and Invictus ended up the champion! 1 vote was all that separated them. Just goes to show that voting really works.

Invictus tells the story of the first year of Nelson Mandela's presidency of South Africa. Racial tensions run hot in the country, and he uses the love of rugby to unite the people of his country. Staring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and directed by Clint Eastwood (personal favorite of mine), can the story of Invictus inspire a great movie like Mandela once inspired his country? Find out after the jump!


I don't normally watch sports movies, but I've always wanted to see this one. The casting of Morgan Freeman alone as Nelson Mandela is perfect. Matt Damon also does a good job in my opinion. When I think back on it though, the only thing I wish was that there was more time spent with them, and perhaps some more character development. Don't get me wrong, I was pleased with their acting. But I was so pleased that I was left wishing more time had been spent with them.

I guess that's the movie's biggest fault. It just seems to spend a little too much time showing the rugby team go on runs and Mandela doing foreign affairs trips like going to America and Japan than building up the characters that matter. Now that I think about it, and even more bizarrely, the movie spends an unusually large amount of time with the president's security force and trying to develop something for the viewer to care about. I don't care about the security dudes. I'm watching this movie for Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon!

Should have been far more Matt Damon. Yeah, you tell 'em Matt!

I'm in an unusual position here. I actually liked the movie, and was cheering for the team to win at the end and cared about Morgan and Matt's characters. And yet when I look back at it for this review, all I can think of is problems. Like the usage of slow motion at the end of the movie. Did they really have to make so much, and in such large chunks in slow motion? There's a face-off scene that goes on for far too long that's just a shot of the player's legs and the slowed down sound of them grunting. Why?!

So, take what you will from this. I'm probably more confused than you are reading this right now. I swear I enjoyed the movie, but I can't deny looking back at it that it was full of issues. I just wanted more Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, and more Matt Damon as the rugby team's captain. They could have given so much more time to him and developing his relationships with his family and girlfriend, but instead we get to watch the security team chat about rugby, as if anyone cares what they think about it. This movie should have been great, instead it was just OK.