Oddly enough, I wish the sports footage in this movie had been shortened. There is enough drama without devoting so much time to the match at the end. The airplane scene caught me by surprise, which I liked, but from there on, the focus was too much on the rugby match. I think Eastwood must have know this and injected the shots of the kid with the policemen outside the stadium to compensate, but it came off a little trite. That said, the rest of the film is wonderfully made. Mandela is well portrayed by Freeman, and his vision for the nation is inspiring. Definitely a “don’t miss” movie.

Sports, overcoming large obstacles, and a good dash of that good ol’ heroism. Is this movie original in its setup or cinematography? Nope. It’s a typical hero movie. But that’s fine, I like those if they’re well done. And this one has good actors, a solid story line, some humor and tension. Also, in these times where discimination of certain religions and races is again high on the agenda I enjoy this vision of hope. That people before overcame this. It’s important to keep that in mind.