Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Invictus (2009)

10/01/2024

Invictus (2009) - Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela

♥♥♥♥

On the turned backside of co-star Morgan Freeman, a smiling face of sport's victory from co-star Matt Damon, makes up this poster for Clint Eastwood's Invictus

Nelson Mandela is freed after 27 long years as a political prisoner in his home country South Africa, and as its president soon after he starts the long, hard work of reuniting his torn people. To serve this end he takes an interest in the country's poor rugby team...

Invictus is written by Anthony Peckham (The Assassin (1988)), adapting the non-fiction book Playing the Enemy (2008) by John Carlin (Chase Your Shadow (2014)), and co-produced and directed by Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 30th feature it is.

Morgan Freeman (The Ritual Killer (2023)) is amazing and seems a lot like the real Mandela, whose exceptional dedication to forgiveness, his country and its future is the film's main driver. The man's fascinating mission is deeply moving.

Matt Damon (The Last Duel (2021)) is a bit timid as the rugby captain, and there are moments in Invictus in which one is almost swept up in the sport. Eastwood of course wants to do justice to the whole important history here, but he may be somewhat on away ground. The backstory of the country and of Mandela's imprisonment are not told convincingly, which might have been done in a matter of minutes, (a filmmaker cannot trust that modern global audiences are privy to these facts), and Invictus nearly drowns in pathos and 'spiritual' feeling music, which is quite overly obvious and directive. The still gripping film might have gotten further with some more restraint and focus on the problems and history of South Africa. The meaning of the title (which latin for 'undefeated') remains unclear. In the final match it is mentioned that the country winds up in the final, - but they then immediately are seen receiving the trophy!?!

Invictus shows the uniting strength of sports in exemplary fashion.

Sully (2016) - Eastwood's miracle landing biopic is inert and overrated 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic

Hereafter (2010) - A movie so bad it might kill you (director/composer)

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Gran Torino (2008) - Eastwood's actor persona comes full circle in absolute smash (co-producer/director/starring actor)
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Letters from Iwo Jima/硫黄島からの手紙 [Öjima Kara no Tegami] (2006) - The Japanese side of Eastwood's remarkable WWII two-parter
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation (producer/director/starring actor)

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Absolute Power (1997) - Eastwood stumbles with low-caliber thriller (director/co-producer/co-starring)

In the Line of Fire (1993) - Clint and co-stars on fire in one of the decade's finest thrillers (starring)

The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) - Lots of deficiencies in Eastwood's weak Marine movie (producer/director/starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)

The Gauntlet (1977) - Locke/Eastwood cast sparks in corny shoot-em-up (director/starring actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (starring actor)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud (director/star)

High Plains Drifter (1973) - Eastwood cleans up red town in great western (director/star)
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (starring actor)
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (starring actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (starring actor)

Hang 'Em High (1968) - Post and Eastwood make spaghetti in the West (starring actor)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 50-60 mil. $ (different accounts)

Box office: 122.4 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.22 times its cost)

[Invictus premiered 3 December (California) and runs 135 minutes. Eastwood was paid 6 mil. $ for his work on the film. Shooting took place from March - May 2009 in South Africa, including in Johannesburg. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits The Princess and the Frog and The Blind Side, to an 8.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 37.4 mil. $ (30.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 26.6 mil. $ (21.7 %) and Spain with 10.3 mil. $ (8.4 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Actor (Freeman), lost to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, and Supporting Actor (Damon), lost to Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds. It was also nominated for a César award, a David di Donatello award, 3 Golden Globes and won 4 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Eastwood returned with Hereafter (2010). Freeman returned in 30 for 30 (2010, TV-series) and theatrically in RED 2 (2010); Damon in Cubed (2009, TV-series) and theatrically in Green Zone (2010). Invictus is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

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Ray Liotta has died

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Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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10/01/2024

Invictus (2009) - Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela

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