Movie Review - Invictus (2009)

Invictus
Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon
Directed by Clint Eastwood

Wow. I haven't been this bored in a movie in a while. In fact, very few movies in 2009 have bored me as much Invictus.

Morgan Freeman is utterly dry as Nelson Mandela who after being released from a South African prison in 1990 becomes President of the country in 1994. Amidst much racial tension, Mandela places what appears to be all his faith in bringing the country together behind South Africa's losing rugby team, the Springboks, and their quest to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Apparently, nothing else will unify whites and blacks except a rugby team. We are literally shown nothing else that Mandela does except put all his strength behind this team. Mandela is certainly an admirable figure, but he's portrayed here in the driest fashion possible. Granted, Mandela may not be the most jaunty guy...but maybe you shouldn't make a movie about him.

It's no secret that biopics are my least favorite genre (I've said it multiple times and will continue to do so) and Invictus does nothing to change that. Written by Anthony Peckham, we learn just enough about rugby to "kinda sorta" follow the matches on the field, but not nearly enough to understand what's really going on (Why are they in that massive huddle? Why was that a foul and why did it lead to the game-winning point?). And it's not just the rugby. This is 135 minutes of nothingness. Nothing happens here.

And part of that problem lies in Clint Eastwood's direction. Sure, I haven't seen a lot of Eastwood-directed flicks, but I've seen six or seven of them, and that's enough to prove to me that I dislike him immensely as a director. I've yet to see a film by him that's felt anything other than ploddingly paced. It's like watching a snail...no excitement whatsoever. There were shots here that felt so incredibly film school in their basicness and simplicity and with his sloth-like pacing issues, Eastwood needs to at least give me something visually stimulating. Plus, Clint hits us over the head here with the racial issues, going so far as to include some horrific song midway through telling me to be "Color Blind." I literally laughed out loud when that lyric invaded my eardrums.

I don't know of any rugby terms, so I'll stick with some a sports term that I know -- Invictus is yet another strike-out for Eastwood.

The RyMickey Rating: D