Karen and I thought it would be nice to finish off 2009 with a movie (she leaves shortly for two trips to warmer climes and I won't see her again until near mid-January .... sigh) ...
I suggested The Blind Side, as it looks uplifting and is receiving pretty good fan reviews, and Karen mentioned Invictus as looking very interesting. I liked that choice too so that's where we went.
But first, a nice meal at the Ox Head restaurant. I arrived a bit before Karen and snagged the tickets and then shot a few images around the place. The Ox Head is am authentic-seeming Vietnamese noodle house with excellent Pho and a rather varied menu.
We enjoyed a couple of bowls and then headed over to the theater.
You gotta wonder what the Rock was thinking ...
Anyway ... a bit of popcorn and off we go. Invictus starts strong, with Mandela's first day in office. We are treated to some interesting moments as we find out that he likes to walk every morning before sunrise. His body guards are all black and when he arrives at the office, we see him walk by white people who have packed up their offices and are leaving.
He calls the staff together and makes an inspirational speech about the need for all of the staff to serve their country by helping this transition ... he further helps the transition visibly by recruiting an elite group of white SAS trained bodyguards with work with him men. The scenes while they learn to work together are excellent watching. You cannot help but admire a culture that can breed that kind of forgiveness into a man and a people.
We are introduced to Matt Damon's character, Francois Pienaar, as the captain of the Rugby team that is hated by all blacks, as it symbolizes the apartheid era. His father laments the destruction of his country now that Mandela has won the election. This is strong enough to seem like a caricature, and yet this may very well be a tame version of the real thing. Systemic apartheid surely left its mark on that generation ...
Throughout the film, we see interactions between these two characters and it all culminates in a glorious final at the World Cup between South Africa and New Zealand, who were the easy favorite to win.
The movie inspires on many levels ... you should feel a lump rise in your throat more than once ... you cannot help but admire Nelson Mandela ... you cannot help but be uplifted by Matt Damon's character and the entire rugby team ...
And you cannot help but be amazed by Morgan Freeman's and Matt Damon's performances. My son Nick was denigrating the film earlier today, predicting that Morgan Freeman would sound like Kevin Costner and Christian Slater in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", an otherwise excellent film that was marred by their horrid fake British accents. He further predicted that Matt Damon would probably reprise his southy accent from "Good Will Hunting" ... which fit that movie perfectly, but would be terribly out of place as a South African. accent. Well, I am pleased to say that Nick was entirely wrong on both counts ... Morgan Freeman's accent seems accurate and Matt Damon's is breathtaking in its accuracy. He must have studied a long time to get that good ...
We stayed through the credits and then braved the cold back to the cars ...
Go see this one. You won't regret it ....
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