INVICTUS

NOMINATED FOR 2 ACADEMY AWARDS! BEST ACTOR, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

 Clint Eastwood’s stirring tribute to Nelson Mandela’s moral grandeur and practical wisdom carries a whiff of the official—but the importance of such virtuous public spectacles is itself the subject of the movie. The drama concerns Mandela’s embrace, in 1995—soon after his election as South Africa’s first post-apartheid President—of the country’s rugby team (loved by whites and hated by blacks) when the country hosted the sport’s World Cup tournament. Morgan Freeman brings a sublime dignity and self-mastery to the role of Mandela. As Francois Pienaar, the team captain to whom Mandela reaches out, Matt Damon lends good-humored smarts to the athlete’s quiet rise to enlightenment. Eastwood’s view of South Africa is sketchy but warmhearted and filled with fine-grained details. We mostly see Mandela at work, exerting power gracefully and compassionately. --The New Yorker