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Clint Eastwood's Invictus: A Colossal Bore
pajamasmedia.com ^ | December 11, 2009 | John Boot

Posted on 12/13/2009 1:06:45 PM PST by Publius804

Clint Eastwood’s Invictus: A Colossal Bore

South Africa is plagued with astonishing levels of crime and poverty, its peoples segregated and suspicious of one another. But the new Clint Eastwood-directed movie Invictus says that’s all okay, because the country’s rugby team won a few games in 1995.

Coming off last winter’s excellent and far more challenging Gran Torino, Invictus is shockingly pedestrian and cliché-ridden. Its level of racial naivety makes it a sort of Driving Mr. Damon, with Morgan Freeman accepting a demotion from his usual roles as God or the president of the United States. This time he merely plays a saint — Nelson Mandela.

Although in one scene we are told that Mandela is a flesh-and-blood human being with family troubles, the rest of the movie shows the man working himself to exhaustion, protesting that he is overpaid, putting himself in physical peril for the sake of his country, forgiving sinners, and generally glowing from the halo over his head. As played by Morgan Freeman with maximum beatitude, he’s one of many reasons why this movie is a colossal bore.

Another is Matt Damon who, as the blond captain of the South African national rugby team the Springboks, is a total blank except that he really wants to win. His team plays so badly in the early stages of the movie that he orders everyone to drink the worst beer he can find — to symbolize the bitter taste of defeat. If putting together a championship-caliber team were that easy, wouldn’t the Detroit Lions simply order in a few cases of Pabst?

Despite Eastwood’s eagerness to portray Mandela as a sort of Jesus with a funny accent....

(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: damon; eastwood; hollywood; invictus; mandela; moviereview; southafrica
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To: stevem

Ok thanks for the info!

I may go see a movie over the Christmas holidays when I have some family from out of town here who like to do that... and, if so, that will be what I go see if it’s still playing.


61 posted on 12/13/2009 3:18:03 PM PST by Freedom'sWorthIt (Ronald Reagan: If we ever forget that we're one nation under God,then we'll be a nation gone under.")
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To: AndrewB

Have they patched up their differences?


62 posted on 12/13/2009 3:30:38 PM PST by sodpoodle (Stop wasting our wealth and start telling the truth.)
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To: AndrewB

Well, I felt an obligation to help the thread along ...


63 posted on 12/13/2009 3:40:38 PM PST by Tax-chick (Here I come, with a sharp knife and a clear conscience!)
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To: Tax-chick

I’m wondering when the Log Cabin Republicans are going to join this thread.

Just trying to Fan up some controversy.

Don’t Block me...These are all Quilt designs!


64 posted on 12/13/2009 3:50:34 PM PST by left that other site (Your Mi'KMaq Paddy Whacky Bass Playing Biker Buddy)
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To: F15Eagle

Good. I appreciate the note of defense of it. I’ll check it out when the time comes.


65 posted on 12/13/2009 3:53:14 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Sick and tired of reading new information sure to hurt Tiger Woods' wife and kids. ENOUGH AREADY!)
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To: left that other site

LOL! If we start talking about Eastern Stars, can we annoy Masons, too :-).

I’m afraid this thread is going to pieces, rather like Clint Eastwood himself, bless his heart.


66 posted on 12/13/2009 5:25:52 PM PST by Tax-chick (Here I come, with a sharp knife and a clear conscience!)
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To: Tax-chick

“LOL! If we start talking about Eastern Stars, can we annoy Masons, too :-).”

Oh, I did a GREAT “Star of Bethlehem” Quilt! Sold to someone in Paris. 20 stitches to the inch! Smaller than AMISH Stitching.

The Amish don’t like it when I do that.

Must not antagonize the Amish.


67 posted on 12/13/2009 5:48:06 PM PST by left that other site (Your Mi'KMaq Paddy Whacky Bass Playing Biker Buddy)
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To: left that other site

I’ve done cross-stitch pieces that small and smaller.


68 posted on 12/13/2009 6:33:58 PM PST by Tax-chick (Here I come, with a sharp knife and a clear conscience!)
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To: Tax-chick

Oooo....Love cross stitch.

Hey, what’s your favorite Clint Eastwood movie? I liked “Pale Rider”, “The Unforgiven”, and “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. I tend to be “retro” hen it comes to Clint.


69 posted on 12/13/2009 7:02:25 PM PST by left that other site (Your Mi'KMaq Paddy Whacky Bass Playing Biker Buddy)
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To: left that other site

“Magnum Force.”


70 posted on 12/13/2009 7:17:14 PM PST by Tax-chick (Here I come, with a sharp knife and a clear conscience!)
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To: Tax-chick

“Magnum Force.”

Oh..Of Course! LOL!


71 posted on 12/13/2009 7:29:43 PM PST by left that other site (Your Mi'KMaq Paddy Whacky Bass Playing Biker Buddy)
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To: left that other site

I liked the one where he played a Secret Service agent defending the President from an assassin. And “Space Cowboys,” too.

I like Clint Eastwood as an actor, but I often don’t particularly care for the movies he’s in.


72 posted on 12/14/2009 8:01:43 AM PST by Tax-chick (Here I come, with a sharp knife and a clear conscience!)
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To: Tax-chick

Oh yes...I forgot about those ones.

Space Cowboys was quite good.

Clint has quite a patchwork of movies to chose from!
:-)


73 posted on 12/14/2009 9:10:21 AM PST by left that other site (Your Mi'KMaq Paddy Whacky Bass Playing Biker Buddy)
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To: left that other site

Yes, a long and varied career.


74 posted on 12/14/2009 9:17:06 AM PST by Tax-chick (Here I come, with a sharp knife and a clear conscience!)
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