Invictus

By definition, a film directed by Clint Eastwood must be good. Who can forget Mystic River, The Unforgiven, and Million Dollar Baby? Sorry, sports fans (pun intended), but Invictus is an Eastwood misfire.

There is wonderful material in the movie: Great actors, such as Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon (who has really emerged as a star in the films based on Ludlum's novels). Great setting: South Africa post-Apartheid. Great idea: Sports as a focus of national unity.

The film's best moments are when Mandela, played deftly by MF, insists on integrating his staff and presenting a new white/black front. He excels when he takes the high road, refusing to revert to vengeance or one-race politics. I also enjoyed the comraderie of the rugby team, the love of the South Africans for sports, and the flavor of the times. As a history buff, I truly appreciated getting insight into the turbulent, tense days of post-Apartheid.

Yet the story never did more than scratch the surface. After all, Mandela was in prison for 35 years! Flashbacks maybe? Life in jail? Life before jail? How does a man emerge from such injustice and NOT proceed with bitterness? How does the young protester from the 60's become Ghandi-esque, almost a Christ figure?

More questions: Matt Damon's character, the rugby captain, comes from a traditionally racist family. Why is the twenty something so unlike his parents? Why don't the parents react more to their son's views? Why should we care at all about Matt's character?

In fact: Why should we really care about a rugby match? Some films are outstanding in making a single event galvanize a theme: Check out Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. The search for Ryan was the perfect glue that held the brilliant WWII Normandy Invasion together. NOT so with the soccer match. Are we somehow supposed to root for the end to Apartheid because of a sports team?

Even with Eastwood at the helm, the film never makes it off the ground. I'd assign a grade of C to this work. Go home and rewrite the story, then re-submit it to me. Oh, I forgot...I'm no longer in the classroom!

Back to you, film buddy!