Clint Eastwood follows up his racially charged Gran Torrino (2008) with a movie that is based on historical events that occurred shortly after Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa in 1994. Post apartheid South Africa was still deeply racially divided and Mandela had the idea that getting the entire country behind their Rugby team (The Springboks) would help unify it.
Problem is, for a movie that is supposed to be an inspiring story about an underdog sports team that overcomes enormous obstacles to win the World Cup, the movie feels very….uninspired. I can’t really point to anything that is inherently wrong with the film, but I never felt emotionally invested in the team, and that makes for one long, dull movie.
The acting in the movie is quite good. A buffed up, blond Matt Damon plays the captain of the rugby team, Francois Pienaar. He’s honorable and likable, and when he is summoned by Mandela to have tea, he shows the proper respect toward the man.
His light skin and light hair represent the white minority (Afrikaners) that has held most of the power in South Africa. Damon aptly handles the South African accent and seems well suited to the role.
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