The James Dean Story (1957, documentary) - The fallen star's life trailed and analyzed

♥♥♥♥

Mythologizing the recently passed away young actor, this poster for Robert Altman's The James Dean Story eagerly attempts to cash in further on his short life

James Dean's life is retold, starting from his birth in 1931, his mother's early death, his upbringing in Fairmount, Indiana, his time in New York as a young actor; achieving success in Hollywood, and his tragic 1955 early end in a speeding accident. 

The James Dean Story is written by Stewart Stern (The Outsider (1961)) and produced, directed and edited by debuting Missourian master filmmaker Robert Altman (Hawaiian Eye (1959, TV-series)) and George W. George (Bonanza (1962-63, writer)).

The movie's strength lie in the wonderful Americans who were someone in Dean's life, and who let themselves be interviewed for the film. The narrator's explanations about the ruminations of its super star subject are pretty subjective but also almost poetic. It is easy to identify with Dean and feel a sense of terrible upset at his early passing on, even today, watching this film.

 

Related posts:

Robert Altman: The Company (2003) - Campbell, Turner and Altman's fine ballet picture  

Gosford Park (2001) - Smith triumphs in Altman & Fellowes' exquisite whodunit

Ready to Wear/Prêt-à-Porter (1994) - Paris fashion week through the Altman lens  

The Player (1992) - Altman's overrated Hollywood satire 

James Dean: Giant (1956) - Stevens' great-looking Texas epic

 

 

In lieu of a trailer for the documentary, unavailable at Youtube, here is a fan-made tribute to the film

 

Cost: Reportedly 35k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The James Dean Story was released 14 January (Japan) and runs 81 minutes. At first envisioned as a biopic, Elvis Presley lobbied to play Dean before the plan was scrapped in favor of a documentary. Shooting took place in Indiana, New York and Los Angeles, California. One site reports that the film 'fared poorly' at the box office, but it was released in at least 6 international markets as well. The gross regrettably is not known, but with the small cost, it seems unlikely that the film did not yield a healthy profit. Altman returned with The Delinquents (1957); George left directing alone but remained active as a writer and producer. 1k+ users have given The James Dean Story a 3.4/5 average rating at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The James Dean Story?

The Iron Giant (1999) - Bird's heavily themed family animation debut

♥♥♥♥ 

 

A stylish and retro-cool poster for Brad Bird's The Iron Giant

1950s Maine, the United States: Boy Hogarth is mad about sci-fi magazines during the atomic scare period, when a giant robot from space lands in the forest near his home ...

 

The Iron Giant is written by Tim McCanlies (North Shore (1987)), Brent Forrester (Love (2016-18)) and great Montanan filmmaker, debuting co-writer/director Brad Bird (Ratatouille (2007)), loosely adapted from Ted Hughes' (The Hawk in the Rain (1957)) The Iron Man (1968).

Wonderful, inspired and deeply colorful and vivid animation, which is endowed with a keen comical eye and excellent voice performances from Eli Marienthal (American Pie (1999)), Jennifer Aniston (We're the Millers (2013)), Harry Connick Jr. (New in Town (2009)), and others.

The story's political angle, - weapon are evil and the state and authorities are deceitful, ignorant and hungry for wars, - is a bit too pregnant for a family film. The Iron Giant is nevertheless still a very special and delightful picture.

 

Related posts:

Brad Bird: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - Cruise and Bird's phenomenal action spectacle 
The Incredibles (2004) - Unwanted animation action slam-dunk

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 31.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.63 times its cost)

[The Iron Giant premiered 31 July (USA) and runs 87 minutes. Bird was inspired by the murder of his sister, shot dead by her estranged husband, because Hughes' novel was a comforting tale for his children following their mother, poet Sylvia Plath's suicide. Production took place in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #9 to a 5.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, steadily declining from there to end with a 23.1 mil. $ (72.9 % of the total gross) gross. The flop was attributed to Warner Bros. lacking marketing campaign, apparently stemming from lack of faith in the film due to their failure with the preceding year's big animation Quest for Camelot (1998). The film won a BAFTA, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. IMDb's users have rated it in at the site's Top 250 at #239, sitting between Network (1976) and The Handmaiden (2016). Bird returned with The Incredibles (2004). Marienthal returned in 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in American Pie 2 (2001). The Iron Giant is certified fresh at 96 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Iron Giant?

Inherent Vice (2014) - Anderson turns in his career's first dud

♥♥

 

A psychedelic reproduction of star Joaquin Phoenix with a characteristic stoner look in rainbow colors make up most of this poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice

A hairy, uncool private investigator in 1970s Los Angeles gets a new, bewildering case, when his ex-girlfriend appears and sets his attention on the story of a disappeared real estate broker.

 

Inherent Vice is written, co-produced and directed by Californian master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight (1996)), whose 7th feature it is. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 2009 novel by Thomas Pynchon (V. (1963)).

The driving narrative of the missing realtor never hooks us, and Inherent Vice looks and feels like an auteur who is verliebt in a time and a place, (1970s LA, where Anderson also set his Boogie Nights (1997)), but the result is never as fun, dramatic nor anything approaching exciting as it was supposed to be. Technically the film is beautiful, with a cool back alley cat attitude, which clashes with Joaquin Phoenix (Her (2013)) booby performance in the lead role, providing moments of measured mirth. This while a parade of stars come and go before the master's camera. Anderson with Inherent Vice is beating on an empty drum in an overlong running time to boot. It is a deadly bore.

 

Related posts:

Paul Thomas Anderson: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Phantom Thread (2017) - Anderson's exquisite drama of an English dressmaker and his Alma 

The Master (2012) - Anderson's stunning post-war reflection 

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Punch-Drunk Love (2002) - Sandler breaks out of his routine in Anderson's delightful romcom

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Boogie Nights (1997) - Anderson's irresistible porn 'Casino'

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Hard Eight (1996) - Anderson debuts with downbeat crime drama

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 14.8 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.74 times its cost)

[Inherent Vice premiered 4 October (New York Film Festival) and runs 149 minutes. Shooting took place from May - August 2013 in California, including in Los Angeles, and in Las Vegas, Nevada. The film opened #20 to a 328k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 653 theaters (different weeks), grossing 8.1 mil. $ (54.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Italy with 707k $ (4.8 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay, lost to Graham Moore for The Imitation Game, and Costume Design, lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won an Independent Spirit award and 2 National Board of Review awards, among many others. Anderson returned with 8 music videos and a documentary prior to his theatrical return with Phantom Thread (2017). Phoenix returned in Irrational Man (2015). Inherent Vice is fresh at 74 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Inherent Vice? 

In This Our Life (1942) or, Sisterhood Be Damned!

♥♥♥♥♥

 

Serene and lovely, a classical poster for John Huston and Raoul Walsh's In This Our Life

With outspoken and devil-may-care attitude Virginian Stanley ruins her sister's coming marriage by eloping with her man to be. But that life doesn't last.

In This Our Life is written by Howard Koch (The 13th Letter (1951)), adapting the same-titled 1941 novel by Ellen Glasgow (Virginia (1913)), and directed by Missourian master filmmaker John Huston (The Maltese Falcon (1941)), whose 2nd film it was, with uncredited co-direction from great New-Yorker filmmaker Raoul Walsh (The Regeneration (1915)).

A gloriously directed melodrama with pristine images (remastered to crisp perfection, cinematography by Ernest Haller (The 3rd Voice (1960))), and Bette Davis (All About Eve (1950)) in a performance of unbridled recklessness, which still today stands as utterly relevant as a portrayal of that type of person who only take themselves into consideration and always disregard those who might get in their way.

Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind (1939)) is fine as the 'good sister', and so are the male actors, and the film is also esteemed by a race angle to its story, since Stanley is also willing to destroy her black help's life in order to be free.

 

Related posts:

John Huston: Chinatown (1974) - Roman Polanski's masterpiece (actor)
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) or, The Final Ape! (actor)
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (co-director)

The African Queen (1951) - Classic romance bravura de Huston/Bogart/Hepburn 

Top 10: Best heist movies 
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) - The twentyfour carat noir caper thriller
Top 10: The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

High Sierra (1941) - Bogart steals the silver screen (writer)

Raoul Walsh: Top 10: Best heist movies 

High Sierra (1941) - Bogart steals the silver screen

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 713k $

Box office: 2.7 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.78 times its cost)

[In This Our Life premiered 7 May (New York) and runs 97 minutes. Warner Bros. paid 40k $ for the film rights to Glasgow's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, and Koch toned down the risqué topical material (incest and racism) to suit the censorship. Shooting took place from October - December 1941 in California. Davis fought costume, hair, make-up and other involved departments during production and disliked the script, later declaring herself "disgusted" by the outcome, which she deemed  "phony film". De Havilland reportedly carried on an affair with Huston during shooting. It is the 3rd of 6 that the female co-stars appeared in together. America's entrance in WWII, due to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7 1941, pulled Huston away from filming at the behest of the US Department of War, and Walsh was put in charge of direction at the late stage, seemingly finishing the film for his 20 years younger colleague. The Office of Censorship 'disapproved' the film for foreign distribution due to its truthful depiction of racial discrimination (the black character's legal testimony is deemed ineffectual simply due to his race), but the film was somehow released abroad nevertheless: It grossed 1.6 mil. $ (59.3 % of the total gross) in North America. It won 3 National Board of Review awards. Huston returned with Winning Your Wings (1942, short) and theatrically with Across the Pacific (1942); Walsh with Desperate Journey (1942). Davis returned in Now, Voyager (1942); and De Havilland in Thank You Lucky Stars (1943). 5.4k+ IMDb users have given In This Our Life a 7.3/10 average rating.]

What do you think of In This Our Life?

In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Howard and stars mostly lost at sea

♥♥

The dimensions of a man swimming behind a massive whale are astonishing on this poster for Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea

Herman Melville comes to Nantucket, New England in 1850 and pressures a local to relate to him the story of how the whaling ship the Essex suffered a cruel fate on a mission thirty years prior.

In the Heart of the Sea is written by Charles Leavitt (The Mighty (1998)), with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), both) contributing story elements, adapting the same-titled 1999 non-fiction book by Nathaniel Philbrick (Abram's Eyes (1998)), and co-produced and directed by great Oklahoman filmmaker Ron Howard (Grand Theft Auto (1977)).

Not an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic Moby Dick (1851), rather this is about the true-story genesis of his novel. In the Heart of the Sea attracts with its colorful seafaring adventure. Whaling, to most people, is about as exotic as it can get. The film succeeds rather well in portraying this fascinating activity, no doubt with enormous practical difficulties, not least because the activity is so hard to imagine doing.

But good maritime scenes cannot cover the many egregious choices made by the filmmakers: The film is about Melville, - but then not really. It is about first mate Owen Chase's (Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok (2017))) marriage, - but then not really. And there's a fair argument to be made that Hemsworth is not enough of a dramatic actor to carry the part. It is about Chase's rivalry with the ship's stubborn captain, - but then not really. Finally the film is about the young Thomas, who sees everything through a big kid's eyes: SPOILER Tom Holland (Avengers: Endgame (2019)) is too cute for this part, and when as a grown man he has become Brendan Gleeson (The Village (2004)) it is impossible to see how and when the two could have possible morphed.

Maybe Howard was too unfocused during the making of the film, (he was tweeting and instagraming during shooting), or perhaps not personally invested enough. In any case, In the Heart of the Sea rumbles along hither and dither without much luck.

 

Related posts:

 

Ron Howard: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - Disney, Howard and Co. drive expensive stick through beloved franchise 

Inferno (2016) - Howard's third Langdon adventure is among the year's worst films 

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)

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

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Frost/Nixon (2008) - Howard's political drama is gripping, superiorly acted 
The Da Vinci Code (2006) - Howard's first Brown adaptation is a popcorn thriller hoot  

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
A Beautiful Mind (2001) - John Nash given the Epic Treatment  
EDtv (1999) - Phenomenal cast shine in Howard's witty mega-flop

Far and Away (1992) - Howard, Hollywood's sweethearts visit the old West with dull result (co-writer/director) 
Backdraft (1991) - Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie 

Grand Theft Auto (1977) or, Crash Bam Boom! 
American Graffiti (1973) or, Cruisin' Modesto '62 (actor)   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 100 mil. $

Box office: 94.3 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.94 times its cost)

[In the Heart of the Sea premiered 2 December (London) and runs 122 minutes. 10 companies cooperated in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from September 2013 in Spain and England, including in London. The film opened #2, behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, to an 11 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 25 mil. $ (26.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 6.3 mil. $ (6.7 %) and South Korea with 5.7 mil. $ (6 %). The film made an estimated 8.6 mil. $ additionally on the domestic home video market. Howard returned with The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years (2016, documentary) and theatrically with Inferno (2016). Hemsworth returned in The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016). In the Heart of the Sea is rotten at 42 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In the Heart of the Sea?

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) - Systemic injustice bared in LeRoy's crackerjack crime drama

♥♥♥♥♥

 

A dangerous holdup in what appears a criminal underworld environment is presented on this murky poster for Mervyn LeRoy's I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

After having served military duty in WWI, James Allen returns to civilian status but does not want factory work; he wants to build something new up as an engineer! But following an unfortunate arrest, he is sentenced to 10 years in a chain gang. - He manages to escape! - But his past finds him ...

 

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is written by Howard J. Green (The Millionaire (1957, TV-series)) and Brown Holmes (Castle on the Hudson (1940)), with Sheridan Gibney (The Locket (1946)) contributing uncredited work, adapting the autobiographical I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! (1932) by Robert Elliott Burns, and directed by great Californian filmmaker Mervyn LeRoy (No Place to Go (1927)).

Thoroughly suspenseful, fast-paced, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang relies on a thrilling story for its success. The woman, who forces a lucrative marriage through by blackmailing our protagonist, is one of the film's exciting, credibly played (by Glenda Farrell (Bonanza (1964, TV-series))), memorable characters. All of it rings 100 % true. 

SPOILER A very exciting climax ends up in a shockingly tragic, stirring ending: 'The system can crush a good man' is the icy lesson here. Paul Muni (Hudson's Bay (1940)) is beautiful and outstanding as the hero in this electrical, indignant film.

 

Related post:

 

Mervyn LeRoy: The Green Berets (1968) - Wayne's gung ho pretty picture of the Vietnam War clashes with reality (co-director)

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 228k $

Box office: 1.599 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.01 times the cost)

[I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang premiered 9 November (Washington D.C.) and runs 93 minutes. LeRoy was paid 13.2k $ for his direction of the film. Shooting took place from July - September 1932 in California, including in Los Angeles, with stock footage of Chicago, Illinois also used. The film grossed 650k $ in North America, 40.7 % of the total gross. It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actor (Muni) to Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII, Picture to Cavalcade and Sound to A Farewell to Arms. The film also won 2 National Board of Review awards. It was instrumental in the appeal and release of Burns and "several other chain gang prisoners nationwide in the U.S." in 1933. LeRoy returned with Hard to Handle (1933). Muni returned in The World Changes (1933). I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is fresh at 96 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang?

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.

 

Related posts:

Clint Eastwood: The Mule (2018) - Drug-runner true story proves another fine fit for screen legend Eastwood 

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.]

What do you think of Invictus?