Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon are superstars and almost every movie they make is a hit. With this in mind combined with the true story of Nelson Mandela trying to unite South Africa, Invictus had a lot to live up to. The movie began with Nelson's release from prison and shows his car drive by two fields. One field is in great condition and shows white Athletes playing the sport of Rugby. The other is in poor condition and shows black athletes playing soccer. This sets up the rest of the movie as the Whites are wealthy and love rugby, while the blacks are poor and hate the sport. This is also where Mandela's role comes into play. He uses Rugby to unite the country and prevent Civil war. He teams up with Francois Pienaar, captain of the South African Rugby team, and together they motivate the team to work harder. Although the movie opens up showing the Springboks (South African rugby team) struggling, Mandela and Pienaar are successful in simultaneously uniting the country and leading the Spingboks to the 1995 World Cup Finale, where South Africa outlasts the incredible "All Blacks" of New Zealand. The story is moving as it is true. However, its portrayal is a bit generic and predictable. Freeman is phenomenal as always, but Damon's portrayal of Pienaar is only decent. His accent is a "bit dodgy" to quote my good Irish friend, and at 5'10", he is a bit small to portray 6'3" Pienaar. Nevertheless, the movie was very good and perhaps the best sports movie in 2009. Final Verdict: InBounds!
