Invictus (2009)

This film is solid.
Not amazing, not incredible, but solid.
It is about newly elected South African President Nelson Mandela and his relationship with the country’s rugby team captain.
Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) understands that post-apartheid South Africa needs to rally – black and white – behind a common cause. And that cause is getting the team to the 1995 World Cup.
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Freeman does a wonderful job of portraying Mandela, a man whose wisdom and patience were forged in prison for more than 25 years.
Just as it is difficult for many to imagine General George S. Patton without thinking of George C. Scott, it is now hard to think of Mandela without envisioning Freeman.
Matt Damon does a fine job of portraying the rugby team captain. He is reliable as usual.
“Invictus” shows clearly how Mandela had to walk the thin line between blacks and whites in the country.
He acknowledges he rooted against the South African rugby team (known as the Springboks) when he was in prison. But now he sees the need for the whole country to come together and support the team that was once a symbol of white oppression against blacks. 

Mandela risked alienating everyone in his pursuit to find common ground for the races.
The movie lags a bit here and there and the first act is much more interesting than the third. In the first the audience sees Mandela assuming the reins of power while the third is a sports movie about the rugby team in the World Cup.
In the same way Mandela achieved greatness despite being an underdog, so too did the Springboks.
“Invictus” is now at theaters.
Murphy can be reached at: [email protected]