Invictus

I usually don’t like sports films. I find them predictable. It’s obvious from the start who’s going to win the match/game/contest. If it wasn’t, then why make a movie in the first place?

Then I saw “Invictus” and promptly changed my mind.

“Invictus” isn’t a story about rugby – and that’s good, because I know nothing about rugby. It’s not even a political statement – although it certainly could be construed as one. “Invictus” is a story about a county that wasn’t ready to embrace change, until they were given a reason.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, and superbly acted by Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Team Captain Francois Pienaar, “Invictus” details the quest of the South African rugby team to capture the World Cup in the mid 1990s, right after Mandela’s election and the end of apartheid. Within the boundaries of a “sports film”, Eastwood once again crafts a simple story on a grand scale transcending cliché to make an extremely moving film. The only slight misstep is the ending – the last match is necessary for dramatic purposes, but far too long for someone who has no clue how the game progresses.

Even though I don’t like sports films, I love sports. I’ll watch just about anything – baseball, football, tennis, even an NBA game. The more sports I watch, the more I realize that in today’s era, athletes (at least the ones that I hear about) aren’t loyal to anything but the Almighty Dollar. And don’t even get me started on the illegal activities of athletes. So I can’t really relate to an idea of a nation supporting one team.

We do have our national Olympic team. But most people (myself included) don’t know about these athletes and don’t care. I usually don’t watch the winter Olympics, as I don’t watch most of those sports. And the summer games are even worse. You have the same professional athletes you watch regularly competing on an international stage, which most do anyway daily. It just doesn’t make sense.

Now combine that with politics (and let me climb on my own soapbox). About a year ago, America was united by promise. A year later, it seems that people are becoming disillusioned. People wanted immediate change in a place where putting a band-aid on a hemorrhage just won’t work. And the racist population (and more than one “news” network) continues to make slurs and allegations to micromanage something that will take years to undo. Be patient people – it took us over a decade to get here; it’ll certainly take more than a year to dig out.

Why do I do my Oscar quirk annually? Because I’m neurotic of course, but also because every now and then I force myself to watch something I wouldn’t normally watch, and end up beyond pleasantly surprised in the bargain. I hope the Academy will think so as well.

“Invictus” – Rated PG-13, 134 minutes (*** ½)