Invictus

It says something about Clint Eastwood as a film maker when he can get an Aussie to will on the Springboks in a game against the Wallabies.

Invictus is the true story of the rise of Nelson Mandela to power and how he used the game of rugby union to unite a divided nation.

Morgan Freeman is perfectly cast as Mandela, who rose to power in the early 1990s after 27 years in jail. He sees his country on the verge of civil war and decided to get behind the 1995 Rugby World Cup as a way of bringing the blacks and whites together.

Of course he meets resistance in all levels of society. A meeting with Springboks captain Francois Piennar (Matt Damon) leads to a resurgence in South African rugby and an unlikely World Cup win (come on, you really think they wouldn't win?).

As an Australian and reasonably familiar with rugby (I did cover a number of games for the paper about a decade ago) I found it easy to follow, particularly with the theatre taking place on the football field towards the climax.

People less familiar with rugby union may struggle in that department. As I said, Freeman is well cast and Matt Damon (who really looked like a football player, unlike some of his team mates) was also very strong.

I have to admit though I did have a moment towards the end when I thought 'Matt Damon is playing rugby, that doesn't look right' or something to that effect.

Invictus hits all the right notes and Eastwood is a master at manipulating how you feel about a situation or a character (see Gran Torino). It's not the greatest sports movie of all time or anything like that but through strong, though predictable (but it is a true story) story telling and good performances by the leads it works.

The only query I have is about a fly over by a passenger plane prior to the start of the World Cup Final. Looked more like a potential terrorist act than a support-your-nation kind of thing.

Perhaps it happened, I haven't looked it up yet.

Nevertheless, I'm giving an 8 out of 10.

I don't think it will figure in my top five of 2010 and if it does it will be a disappointing year. That's not saying I didn't like it (I just gave it four stars) but I hope there's better in store.