Invictus is a simple story told brilliantly. Lately Clint Eastwood’s main strength is storytelling and this continues in Invictus. Packed with powerful performance by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon this movie is destined for few Oscars (and some might accuse Eastwood as Oscar hungry). 

A predictable story of rugby team backed by president does not impart much excitement, but blend it with emotions and nifty dialog writing you will get Invictus. There are scenes like when Francois Pienaar(Matt Damon) visits Mandela for tea or when Francois Pienaar visits the prison at Robben Island, which are brilliantly choreographed and with limited dialogues helps in  invoking a barrage of emotions. Another nice part was story of a kid running in parallel and that portrays how Mandela succeeds in his ‘human calculation’. Side stories such as maid at the captain’s house and distrust among Mandela’s bodyguards help us understand the intensity of the problem and also demonstrate how things ease out as movie progresses. Full credit to Eastwood for portraying such gripping scenes and shows how with every movie he is improving as a director.

Apart from storytelling the movie excels in casting – no other actor other than Freeman could have portrayed Mandela better. His performance is of level that when I think of Nelson Mandela next time first image that would come to my mind is of Freeman. Matt Damon does justice to his part as captain of the Rugby team and blends petty well with team. End of movie credits, where they show the real rugby team, confirm why he was chosen for this role.

Non-sports fan might find the last scene bit stretched especially with lack of commentary. But the movie is not about sports, its about inspiration and emotions. Its about how Mandela’s personality and how he realized that revenge was not the part of solution but the problem itself and his amazing capability to convince everyone. Title of the movie is taken from a short poem with same name and the line "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul" is the centre theme.

I give Invictus 4.5/5 and add it to must watch category.