Invictus

Title: Invictus
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Julilian Lewis Jones, Bonne Henna
Genres: Drama, Adaptation, Biopic, Sports
Running Time: 2 hour. 14 minutes
Release Date: December 11th, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Review: Seeing as Cling Eastwood is one of my favorite directors, I did have some expectations for this film. Couple that with the fact that South African politics has a special place in my heart, after spending a lot of time in that beautiful country, and we've got ourselves whipped into a expectation-frenzy. And it is a great film, full of great performances, restrained and skillful directorial work, and a powerful true story to stir the heart.

However, it is also a bit heavy on the sweaty-men-in-a-game-huddle slo-mo's, and being as rugby is the sport at hand (basically making it incomprehensible for anyone not already familiar with the game) it does get a bit tedious. Is it worth the 2 hours & then some? Yeah, I would say it is. But at the same time, there is no need to hold off on the soda - you'll have plenty of time for a visit to the restroom without running the risk of missing anything crucial. In other words, 'Invictus' is a great film definitely worth seeing, but it won't be joining the multitude of previous Eastwood's films on my All-Time-Favorites lists.

Grade: 8