Invictus

Synopsis
After both Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman walked away with Oscars after their last collaboration, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, the celebrated pair reteams for this drama based on a true story. Freeman stars as Nelson Mandela, who has just been elected president of South Africa. To bring his country together, Mandela brings the South African rugby team and its captain (Matt Damon) to the forefront as the players try to win a world championship.

Reviews
"[A] very good story very well told....Every scene brims with surprising details that accumulate into a rich fabric of history, cultural impressions and emotion." (Variety)

"Nothing speaks so dramatically about Clint Eastwood's recent and remarkable burst of creativity as a director of awards-worthy films than the appearance of INVICTUS..." (Hollywood Reporter)

3 stars out of 5 -- "INVICTUS is a salubrious amalgam of history and sports suitable for family viewing." (Box Office Magazine)

3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Director Clint Eastwood cleverly fuses a political tale and a sports story and serves fact-based inspiration....[With] two stellar performances and a story that stirs hearts and intrigues minds." (USA Today)

"[T]he director has turned out a stirring drama about South African leader Nelson Mandela, blending entertainment, social message and history lesson..." (Los Angeles Times)

3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Eastwood's modest approach to these momentous events shames the usual Hollywood showboating....He's made a film that truly is good for the soul." (Rolling Stone)

"Freeman lets the words breathe, and Damon, as the cautious Afrikaner brought to a higher place by Mandela's authority, acts with a coolly impassive fervor." -- Grade: B+ (Entertainment Weekly)

"[Featuring] the convergence of a great actor and a great character. Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela is lie a virtuoso playing Bach on a Stradivarius while moving serenely around the room." (Wall Street Journal)

"[A] rousing true story of athletic triumph....An absorbing character study of one of the most extraordinary characters of our time..." (New York Times)

3 stars out of 4 -- "[Damon] has become the most unlikely Hollywood rarity: a character actor with a matinee-idol face." (Washington Post)

3 stars out of 5 -- "Though Freeman's voice is deeper than Mandela's, he catches the former President's cadences exactly..." (Total Film)

4 stars out of 5 -- "Eastwood maintains momentum....[He] perhaps encourages many to want to learn more about what happened either side of this glorious moment, expertly brought to life again." (Uncut)

3 stars out of 5 -- "[N]oble, elegant, warm-hearted and dedicated to Anthony Peckham's solidly faithful adaptation of John Carlin's book." (Empire)

3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Based on the real events that transpired in South Africa in the early and mid-90s this is another solid offering from Hollywood's most consistent director, Clint Eastwood." (Premiere)