Awestruck is what I have been while watching the Olympics. The athletes’ feats have been truly impressive. Not only did similar feelings get stirred in me from watching this uplifting movie; but after recently telling you I was not a fan of team sports, I have to say I became a supporter of the Springboks rugby team of South Africa. And that was in spite of not having a clue about the rules of the game. This was one of Clint Eastwood’s better directed movies in my opinion. It told the inspirational story about Nelson Mandela becoming the country’s first black president. There was already a built in base of dramatic events which Clint shot in a straight forward manner. The casting was brilliant as Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy, Evan Almighty) played Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon (We Bought a Zoo, The Bourne franchise) played rugby team captain, Francois Pienaar. After his long imprisonment, Nelson presided over a racially divided country. While attending a rugby game, he noticed the white fans were cheering their own country’s team, but the black fans were supporting the opposing team. He formed an idea: What if he could get both sides cheering for the Springboks? Mandela decided to reach out to Pienaar to discuss ways on improving the team’s mediocre performance and get the entire country behind their rugby team. Morgan was tremendous in his role, garnering an Oscar nomination, as well as Matt for his performance. A wonderful film about an incredible man; I understand why they named this film Invictus. It is the name of a poem that ends with the lines: I am the master of my fate.  I am the captain of my soul.

3 1/3 stars — DVD