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Invictus | 2009 | PG-13 | - 3.3.5

The true story of how in 1990 Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) and the captain of the South African rugby team (Matt Damon) worked together on and off the field in an effort to bring the country together and begin the healing process after the end of apartheid. Also with Marguerite Wheatley, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Julian Lewis Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Leleti Khumalo, Patrick Lyster and Penny Downie. Directed by Clint Eastwood. [2:14]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - A woman knocks on her husband's hotel room door, he lets her in, she kisses him, he resists her briefly, they then kiss and fall back (presumably on a bed and sex is implied).
 Men and women dance together at a party; one man dances with a woman and remarks about her appearance, then makes a comment about wishing he was more like his father (since his father was a polygamist and he is not).
 Men are shown bare-chested while changing in a couple of locker room scenes. A woman is shown wearing a lace camisole that reveals bare shoulders. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage, bare arms and shoulders.

VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A seemingly dead body is shown in the street (no wounds are visible).
 People are shown rioting and looting in the streets, and men are shown holding large machetes and we hear about the outbreak of a civil war.
 There are many rugby sequences that show players being tackled hard to the ground; in most scenes numerous players are shown with bloody cuts and/or bruises on their faces and more on their arms and legs, and loud grunts are heard when they are tackled and pile on top of each other. During one rugby match we see several players scuffle and shove each other on the field.
 We hear that a man spent 27 years in prison. A woman talks about having been forced out of their home by military agents when her father was in prison. A man makes a remark about Nelson Mandela and that when he was released from prison was the day "the country went to the dogs." A man says that the black South Africans would steal the whites' jobs and push them into the ocean. A man talks about a large number of people hating a man. A man talks about people coming out of the womb with guns in their hands. A man tells another man "no one is trying to tear my head off." A rugby player says, "I will break my arm, my leg, my neck" before letting another player pass.
 A man is shown lying on the ground moaning and we hear that he collapsed from exhaustion.
 A cup of soda or beer is flung at a man as he leaves a crowded stadium (he is not struck). A rugby team challenges another team at the beginning of a match by chanting and making aggressive gestures.
 We see a prison, and where the prisoners would be forced to do hard labor, by pulverizing rocks by hand. A huge jet flies very close over a crowded stadium where many people appear nervous about it crashing; the plane pulls up after it passes over and the stadium rumbles loudly (no one is harmed).
 A security team prepares to protect a head of state, who will be in attendance at a crowded sporting event. A security detail is shown to be nervous when the man they are protecting walks into crowded stands and shakes hands with people. A security detail seems nervous when a noisy van appears to be following the man they are protecting (nothing happens).

LANGUAGE 5 - At least 1 F-word, 8 scatological terms, 7 mild obscenities, name-calling (hooligans, buggar, idiot, terrorist).

SUBSTANCE USE - Two men drink alcohol, several people in a bar are shown drinking beer, a man drinks a beer while watching television, several men drink beer from cans and a few spit it out complaining of the taste (they throw the still filled cans against a wall), and people drink alcohol in several scenes in assorted locations while watching rugby matches.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Racism, Apartheid, Nelson Mandela, oppression, indignity, "black aspirations vs. white fears," mistrust, reconciliation, unemployment, forgiveness, professional sports teams, winning and losing, compassion, generosity, uniting people, inspiration to greatness, expectations, revenge.

MESSAGE - Forgiveness liberates the soul.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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