In the heartwarming Christmas release Invictus, Danny Glover plays a kindly elderly man named Nelson. He works as  a chauffeur to  South Africa United’s  star rugby player Reginald Manchris, played by Matt Damon. The heart of the film is the touching relationship between the poor, uneducated black servant and his benevolent golden-haired boss. In the face of unbridled racism, the two form an usual bond that cannot be broken. As Nelson Mandela, Denzel Washington portrays a man with an enormous heart and an even more enormous bulge. For some reason he has a giant bulge in his front pocket. The film suggests that Mr. Mandela keeps his many keys in that pocket but they didn’t look like keys to me. Anyhow, the kindly and wise Mr. Mandela opens Reggie’s eyes to the ways of his people so that Reggie may open his heart. For example, Reggie listens to African drums for the first time while riding in the back seat of the limo in one of the movies more lighthearted scenes. For the most part however, this is a challenging film. Both touching and gut-wrenching, Invictus reminds the audience that it was not always easy for the white man in South Africa. Reggie faces  many difficult struggles not the least of which is getting blood stains out of his rugby jersey.  Mr. Mandela dutifully brings it home to his teen-aged wife Precious for some good old-fashioned elbow grease yet the stains persist. Reggie is forced to play an important match in the dingy jersey and is humiliated because of it. Some of the water boys make rude asides during the match and Reggie is forced to have them imprisoned at Robben Island for being black. And for being rude.  The script becomes a bit unfocused at the midway point when Mr. Mandela and Reggie share an explosive scene in which the lines of age, class, race and sexuality are blurred which earns this film it’s R rating.  The scene, while titillating, seems gratuitous and not at all in keeping with the films subtle message of racial tolerance. Matt Damon gamely bares the black-face required of the scene but the episode ultimately leaves the viewer with more questions than answers.

****SPOILER ALERT**** The drama of Invictus is ramped up when an alien space ship invades the country. As it turns out, the aliens are really good at rugby, I mean REALLY good. Their athletic prowess (which is attributed to genetics), slimy skin (making them nearly impossible to tackle) and the eyes on the backs of their heads (literally!) make them an unstoppable force. The aliens form a their own rugby team, The Soweto Hottentots, and quickly come to dominate the sport (and not just rugby, they excel at lacrosse, polo, ice hockey and figure skating as well. But that’s for another movie altogether) on an international level.  The film’s climax is centered around the World Chalice of Rugby match which pits the two South African teams against each other. It is during this climax that the lessons Reggie learned from Mr. Mandela play an important role. During the match, Reggie is bitten by one of the savage Hottentots. Not only does he come down with a severe case of the cooties, he is infected with alien DNA. During the last few seconds of the game, while trying to make his final pass to score the winning goal, hair begins to grow out of Reggie’s face, his ears become elongated and his nose becomes moist and wet like that of a dog. In addition to these cosmetic changes, Reggie finds himself growing stronger and more powerful. The sound of distant drumming fills his hairy ears and, as if in a trance (and in slow motion) he runs the ball into the zone, winning the game for South Africa United and putting the uppity Hottentots in their place once and for all. Of course, in a rather predictable turn, the exposure to the alien blood has transformed the once golden boy into a teen-aged werewolf with staggering athletic abilities and a really cool letterman’s jacket. Mr. Mandela, watching from the side lines, cries a single glorious tear as he realizes that Reggie, his little ward, has finally become a man.  Yet he is a man apart. No longer a white Afrikaner, he processes the physical strength of the alien race as well as the too cool for school demeanor of a teen-aged werewolf. He belongs nowhere yet is everyone. And that is the ultimate message of Invictus. Nelson Mandela opened Reggie’s heart so that he would be prepared to dominate in the new world order. Reggie is more powerful than any creature to walk the earth since the dinosaurs yet with the compassion learned from Mr. Mandela, he lives on rule with both an iron fist and a lead alloy heart. Kudos go to Matt Damon and Samuel L. Jackson for their unflinching portrayals of two fascinating and complex characters.