Trailer: Invictus
By Craig Kennedy - October 27th, 2009; 5:26 pm
Apple has the first official trailer for Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, the rugby/Apartheid drama starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as the captain of South Africa’s national rugby team.
I’m still not buying it. It looks earnest, socially conscious and borderline unbearable right down to the Ladysmith Black Mambazo music. Ok, I’m being a little harsh. Arent I?
For better or for worse, the presumed (by some) Oscar nominee opens December 11.
Stream it after the jump.
Filed under: Trailers
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Invictus, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman
Not at all. Morgan Freeman’s accent really bugs me. At some moments, he does sound like Mandla. Most of the time, though, it sounds like Freeman’s regular wise black man routine. I’d say it’s time for him to do something new after this, because you don’t get much wiser than Nelson Mandela. This looks like pandering to the nth degree. Blech.
Thank god I’m not alone.
I don’t like hating on stuff that’s well intentioned, but like you say this feels like pandering.
Exactly, WJ.
As I said elsewhere: I’m not feeling it either. But I’m not the target Inspiring Political Reconcilliation Through Rugby Movie demographic. I love Morgan Freeman. But he’s Morgan Freeman, always. He’s not someone who disappears into his roles. He seems like Morgan Freeman doing a silly Nelson Mandela accent. Just waiting for him to slip back into Wise Old Black Man/God vibe and start dispensing the gems of crusty advice.
Not being harsh at all.
Give Clint another Oscar, and give me some Alka-Seltzer.
I’m wondering what Sartre thinks, since New Zealand was the team South Africa confronted at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Maybe Mandela can write a letter to Eastwood as he did with Ed Zwick after Blood Diamond came out, haha.
Invictus seems like the kind of film that is guaranteed to be a Best Picture nominee because of the “10 Rule.”
Freeman in no way looks like Mandela, but he doesn’t seem downright embarrassing… (Not that I expected he would.) The trailer, however, feels like Amelia 2, this time with lesser cinematography.
Though this is prime Oscar bait, I’m on record saying I don’t think it’ll make it. With 10 noms it almost has to get one, but I feel like people are more inward looking right now and this story is so 15 years ago.
And I still think (based on zero evidence) that Clint’s Oscar glow has faded. Prognosticator types automatically pencil him in and this film certainly has the makings, but I think it lacks imagination to assume it’s in.
LOVE it!
One of these days Matthew, you and I will agree on something and somewhere in the universe a sun will explode and take down an entire solar system populated by a massive race of super-sentient beings.
Call me cynical. It seems to have all the ingredients, but not complexity that’s needed — for me, at least.
The hype about this film is misplaced:
For a contrarian view, see:
http://africasacountry.com/2009/10/28/it-wasnt-rugby/