I saw the movie Invictus today starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman and directed by Clint Eastwood. The E Hollywood people were right. Morgan Freeman was born to play Nelson Mandela.
The movie tells a story of a courageous man who unified a country by using the sport of Rugby. The tale is of a 1995 South African Springbok team that won the World Cup, beating the New Zealand All Blacks in the final at Ellis Park. The real story behind the rugby is one of amazing feats and discipline. Morgan Freeman's character Nelson Mandela rose to become the first black president in South Africa. Nelson Mandela unifies an apartheid stricken country through his influence of the South African rugby captain, Francois Peinar. Unifying a country that had turned their back on Mandela and incarcerated him for 27 years perhaps shows how strong willed of a person Mandela really was.
From a rugby fans perspective, the players looked and played like real rugby players. Jonah Lomu's look alike did well enough and the rugby players actions were good enough. Except for the Andrew Mehrten's actor who looked like he was having some trouble fitting into character when he was attempting conversions. The other noticeable wrong was that the Loftus and Ellis Park stadiums were a little advanced in advertising to be 1995. That's coming from a rugby supporter who is probably being over critical.
From a rugby fans perspective, the players looked and played like real rugby players. Jonah Lomu's look alike did well enough and the rugby players actions were good enough. Except for the Andrew Mehrten's actor who looked like he was having some trouble fitting into character when he was attempting conversions. The other noticeable wrong was that the Loftus and Ellis Park stadiums were a little advanced in advertising to be 1995. That's coming from a rugby supporter who is probably being over critical.
I encourage anyone to go see it. This movie has many lessons in it and is a very significant piece of history.
