Screenhead

The crew out at Warner Brothers sent me a copy of Invictus to review for you, and frankly, I’m glad they did.  Brace yourselves, folks, because it’s going to be profoundly exciting.

Invictus joins South Africa in the midst of apartheid, but ready to change, as Nelson Mandela is voted into office.  Naturally, this isn’t going well–the white portion of South Africa is terrified, and the black portion is jubilant.

A newspaper headline sums it up well–”He can win an election, but can he run a country?”.  He’s prepared to do exactly that, but how can he unify a country that’s torn by crime, violence, unemployment and the distinct possibility of civil war?  Simple!  Rugby, that’s how!  Mandela gets behind the South African Springboks, a mostly white team that’s currently dead last with a bullet in the standings.  South Africa is set to host the Rugby World Cup championship games, and if the Springboks can take home the gold, then South Africa will find itself a whole country again.

It’s a clever gambit, and one that actually went a long way toward working.  It’s based on a book surrounding the same events, and surprisingly, was directed by Clint Eastwood.

We all know the standard formula for sports movies–where a ragtag band of losers and misfits comes together as a team just in time for the playoffs, where they take on literally EVERYONE on earth who’s better than they are, and they win despite all odds and fight their way to the top, where they narrowly win.  Invictus sets itself up much like that, but with a political component that’s surprisingly able and refreshing.

It’s somewhat strange, to find yourself cheering for a game that has already been played, but such is the sheer capability of Eastwood as a director–along with the fine cast assembled here–that you’ll likely find yourself cheering just as much as if the game’s outcome had not already been decided.

Even if you’re not fond of sports, or couldn’t care less about rugby or politics, you’ll still find a lot of inspiration and surprises to be had in Invictus.  It’s a terrific movie that I can recommend to most anyone interested.

The Screenhead Ten Scale joins my assent, handing up a full ten out of ten to Invictus, a movie that will make you excited over the results of a game that was over more than a decade ago.

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