It's a good movie but not a brilliant movie

CLINT Eastwood turns 80 this May and he has not stopped working, when most other people of his age would give serious consideration to just relaxing at home, writes Conor Nolan.

After the wonderful Gran Torino, in Invictus the critically acclaimed actor, director and producer tackles the thorny subject of South African politics, Nelson Mandela and World Cup Rugby.

A potent cocktail you might think when Mandela is played by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon plays legendary Springbok Francois Pienaar? Yes and no — Invictus is a good movie but not a great or brilliant movie.

The film tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team, Francois Pienaar, to help unite their bitterly divided country.

Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically at a crossroads in the wake of apartheid.

Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely tilt at the 1995 World Cup final crown which to most people around the world was little more than a thrilling rugby match.

But for South Africans, it was a turning point in their history — a shared experience that helped to heal the wounds of the past and give new hope for their future.

Eastwood chronicles how Mandela and Pienaar joined forces to turn their individual hopes (the president, to unite his country; the captain, to lead the nation's team to World Cup glory) into one shared goal with the motto "One team, one country."

Mandela calls upon Pienaar to lead his team to greatness, citing a poem that was a source of inspiration and strength to him during his years in prison on Robben Island

The movie reveals that the poem was Invictus by William Ernest Henley which literally means "unconquered," which, Eastwood says, "doesn't represent any one character element of the story. It takes on a broader meaning over the course of the film".

While Eastwood handles the rugby sequences with his usual aplomb, the rest of the story is curiously told in a rather flat, matter of fact manner and Invictus lacks the emotional punch of say Million Dollar Baby but it is none the less a pretty decent movie.

Damon is excellent as Pienaar but Freeman lacks the gravitas and presence to play Mandela and I could not help feel that he was actually, sadly miscast.

Invictus opens in cinemas on Friday and is definitely worth a look — for the rugby sequences alone.