Times change, we need to change as well.

Invictus

I had wanted to see Clint Eastwood's inspirational sports movie starring God and Will Hunting last December when it came out but it was one of the couple that I missed. After seeing Invictus last weekend, I'm glad I saw it on DVD and skipped paying $11.00

Morgan Freeman is absolutely amazing as Mandela. It's the role he was born to play. Not only do the two resemble each other, but Freeman completely embodies the South African leader. We are so used to seeing Morgan Freeman play a wise man and say, "Ah, that's Morgan Freeman doing his Morgan Freeman thing, he's great." But there were times I forgot I was watching Morgan Freeman. He takes his typical wise man role to the next level. He's magical, authoritative, and engrossing. I've always found Nelson Mandela fascinating and seeing one of America's most beloved actors portray one of the world's most beloved people adds an extra emotional layer to the role. One negative, Freeman's accent faded in and out a few times, but that's easily forgivable. Definitely one of Freeman's best performances.

Matt Damon does the best with what he's given but so much of the writing and focus is on Freeman. They are both leaders leading broken people and while Matt Damon does portray his character's motivation clearly, his character's writing isn't as strong as Freeman's and doesn't really go anywhere with the role. Damon maintained a solid accent though.

Beyond the performances, the film has its highs and lows. Apparently, pretty much everything Invictus showed really happened, so good for Eastwood for trying to be authentic. The voice over of the poem that inspired Mandela, Invictus, is a great way to pull heart strings. The film is predictable as are most inspirational sports movies but enjoyable as are most inspirational sports movies.

There were some fairly awkward moments scattered throughout Invictus. There's an incredibly cheesy and distractingly out of place song, an awkward dance sequence, and unnecessary slow motion. While I like slow motion, there's just too much of it and when slow motion is overdone, it's distracting and annoying. On top of the slow motion is slowed down grunting noises from the rugby players...lots of them and for a long time. Yeah. Too much slow motion isn't leaving me tense and on the edge of my seat.

Furthermore, there's a lot of CGI in the climactic rugby game...and one can easily tell it's CGI. Clint Eastwood is a powerful, rich, and respected director. You think he could've done a better job of making the CGI look real.

This movie does remind us of the power of sports. Besides all the race relations and tensions (perfectly depicted between the white and black security guards), sports have a powerful way of uniting people and nations. Everyone backing their nation's team creates a sense of comradery and brother/sisterhood, even just for a little while. People who might not normally get along gather around radios and televisions (as shown in the movie) with something in common. Even more powerful is that that comradery can last after the team wins, as show in the movie. Beyond all BS regarding insane salaries, team/manager politics, steroids, betting, and so on, sports are a wonderful display of athletic prowess and are more important and have more potential than we give them credit for.

Definitely glad I saw Invictus, definitely better than some of Clint Eastwood's more recent work, definitely glad I didn't spend money on it.

Carey Mulligan in Never Let Me Go

This sad, ethical question raising film is filled with strong performances but they were lead by the outstanding Carey Mulligan. She again shows a wisdom beyond her years and handles heavy and complex emotional material with subtlety and restraint when one's instinct might be to scream and breakdown, much like Andrew Garfield's character (who was also incredible, he's one to watch). It's really exciting to watch Carey Mulligan get started in her roles, I feel like I'm watching the early growth and development of the next Kate Winslet or Meryl Streep. Mulligan is not only one the most talent young actresses currently working, she's better than a lot of the working actresses out there right now. I cannot wait to see what roles she takes on. She's a gift to the film industry.

Netflix

Leaves of Grass-An Edward Norton comedy where he plays twin brothers. Cool.
Boogie Nights-I love Mark Wahlburg and this was his big break. Plus it was one of Paul Thomas Anderson's first films.
The Breakfast Club-Netflix Instant. Freaking love this movie. And I still think it would make a great play.