Invictus
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 11, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
It’s an exciting sports movie, an inspiring tale of prejudice overcome and, above all, a fascinating study of political leadership. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Clint Eastwood, a master director, orchestrates all of these notes and has us loving Mandela, proud of Francois and cheering for the plucky Springboks. A great entertainment. Not, as I said, the Mandela biopic I would have expected. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
What makes it special is Eastwood's ability to artfully and concisely tell a story, and Morgan Freeman's wonderfully understated turn as South African President Nelson Mandela. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Eastwood's modest approach to these momentous events shames the usual Hollywood showboating. In a rare achievement, he's made a film that truly is good for the soul. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Invictus, which is Latin for "unconquered," gives the poem several meanings in the context of the film. It also applies to Eastwood, who, as one of America's greatest storytellers, finds enthralling tales and fashions them with finesse and an indomitable spirit. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
This movie depicts an unlikely intersection of sports and leadership in ways that manage to be inspiring and insightful without ever becoming schmaltzy or preachy. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
How is Invictus as a sports movie? Let's just say that its lump-in-the-throat climax is predictable, but that doesn't mean it's less than earned. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
Damon, beefed up for the occasion, makes Pienaar a stalwart yet courtly figure. Freeman infuses Mandela's speeches with the same gentleness and gravity he's brought to his numerous God roles and the Visa Olympics commercials. But the real deity here is Eastwood, still chugging away handsomely in his 80th year. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Inspirational on the face of it, Clint Eastwood's film has a predictable trajectory, but every scene brims with surprising details that accumulate into a rich fabric of history, cultural impressions and emotion. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A win-win situation in which a mainstream feature works equally well as stirring entertainment and a history lesson about a remarkable convergence of sports and statesmanship. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Instead of a thriller, war movie or western, the director has turned out a stirring drama about South African leader Nelson Mandela, blending entertainment, social message and history lesson. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Eastwood has crafted something that works both as a sports drama and as an examination of the birth pains of the racially unified South Africa. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Damon is becoming one of the truest, most reliable actors of his generation. And Eastwood has more films in development, proving, at 79, that 79 is just a number like any other. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
As always, Freeman is a one-man charm offensive. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Freeman portrays Mandela not as a saint but as a man who knows he has the political freedom of being seen as one; it’s a majestically two-dimensional performance with glimpses of a third dimension peeking through. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It’s a simplistic, superficial approach to a real-life story that marginalizes most historical details not involving scrums and tackles. It’s also pretty effective, in spite of the gloss. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It’s not a great film, but parts of it are outstanding. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's never less than worthy and entertaining, but the importance of Invictus doesn't broaden as it goes along. It narrows. Read full review
75
NPRBob Mondello
Freeman's Mandela, however, is pretty marvelous -- so persuasive in gesture, in bearing, in that signature mix of gravitas and twinkle, even in accent -- that when a shot of the real Mandela appears over the final credits, it's momentarily jarring to realize you've been watching an impersonation. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The focus of Invictus is less on Mandela's psychology than his willpower and political astuteness. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Invictus, which features outstanding performances from both its lead actors, succeeds wonderfully on its simplest level, as a portrait of political genius. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
Not only does Invictus tell a remarkable story of a remarkable man, but it also illustrates how sports can be a salve to a wounded community. And that's something New Orleanians can certainly appreciate. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The wonder of Invictus is that it actually went down this way. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A mildly rousing and reasonably satisfying picture about one man's efforts to mend the rifts among his countrymen. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Freeman is so in-tune with the former South African president's persona you can't take your eyes off him. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Narratively, we all know where the trajectory of the story is headed, thus the culminating match (nearly 20 minutes) takes up too much screen time without adding anything new to the drama. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Invictus has an understated grace, but too often it comes across as hero-worshipy. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A temperate, evenhanded perhaps overly timid film about an intemperate time in South Africa. Read full review
60
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Like every Eastwood production, Invictus is stately, handsomely mounted, attentive to detail right down to the Marmite adorning the team's breakfast buffet, and relentlessly conventional. As a portrait of a hero, the movie effortlessly brings a lump to the throat (Freeman gives a subtly crafted performance that blends Mandela's physical frailty with his easy charm and cerebral wit); as history, it is borderline daft and selective to the point of distortion. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
The movie isn’t adventurous, but I’m sure glad it exists. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Anthony Peckham's script is formulaic, woodenly reverent, and devoid of real dramatic tension. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Nathan
Eastwood hits all the right notes in exactly the right order, but it’s his least personal film for a while. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The result is earnest, admirable and more than a little dull -- a pedestrian movie about a remarkable subject. Read full review
50
SlateDana Stevens
As a non-South African, I can't speak to the accuracy of the movie's racial politics, but they feel insultingly vague. Read full review
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