One Moe Thing About Invictus

I said Invictus is not nuanced, but I think I did Eastwood a little bit of a disservice.

Yes, while the big rugby match is going on, he's showing blacks and whites watching it together, and later celebrating together, and showing the little black kid first being yelled at by the police then getting along with them to the point where at the end, they give him a police cap to wear. Unlikely. But where he did show honesty is in the relations between the blacks and whites assigned to protect Nelson Mandela. The black cops do NOT want to work with white police officers, who not that long ago, were trying to put them in jail. And white officers have about as little respect as they can have for the black guys they have to work with in order to do their job, serving a President they don't really respect. But they have to get along to do their jobs. And so when the South Africans win the match, they don't hug or shake hands or celebrate together. They smile, in one case, a very tight smile. They may have found common ground on this, and all are happy about the win, but they still have to work together despite their pasts and winning the game is not going to change that-but it may make it a little easier. These men and their respective stories are the most honest part of Invictus.