To be released tomorrow on DVD

As he approaches 80, living legend Clint Eastwood shows no signs of slowing down, nor shirking from challenges as a filmmaker.

Eastwood’s Invictus entertainingly delves into South African politics and rugby, two normally forbidding subjects for American audiences.

Thanks to expert performances by Morgan Freeman (as Nelson Mandela) and a buffed-up Matt Damon — as well as Eastwood’s old-school storytelling expertise — 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.

The story takes place during a few months in 1995, when South African President Mandela — like another president you may have heard of — was struggling to unite a badly divided country. Mandela shocks even his closest advisers when he decides to become the country’s biggest booster of the Springboks, the national rugby team beloved by the white Afrikaner minority that had brutally ruled the country through decades of apartheid. At the same time, the Springboks — with one black player — were seen by the black majority as a symbol of apartheid, with Mandela’s supporters even trying to disband the team before he steps in. A pragmatist who had closely studied the Afrikaners during his 27 years as a political prisoner, Mandela realized that humiliating his former enemies would only further destabilize the country.

Mandela finds an improbable ally when he reaches out to the team’s apolitical captain, Francois Pienaar (an excellent Damon), who only wants to turn around his perennially losing squad — and orders the team to tour shantytowns where black kids prefer soccer to rugby.

Anthony Peckham’s intelligent screenplay — adapted from John Carlin’s book "Playing the Enemy" — cleverly represents the polarized South Africa through Mandela’s security detail. Because of the security squad’s public visibility, Mandela insists that menacing Afrikaners from the apartheid regime be retained, joining his longtime supporters from the African National Congress.

The film climaxes with an exciting championship match against New Zealand’s All-Blacks squad, which ironically takes its name from the color of its uniforms rather than its members. While the unusual formations are fun to watch, I can’t say I actually understand rugby from Eastwood’s film, which is far more concerned with Mandela’s unconventional efforts at racial healing.

It would be easy to turn Mandela into a saint, but Eastwood and his longtime collaborator Freeman, in the role of his career, never let this happen. While upbeat and optimistic, Mandela is shown as a man with a healthy sense of humor and personal regrets — separated from his (never seen) wife, Winnie, and barely on speaking terms with a daughter who does not share his spirit of reconciliation.

Handsomely shot on location in South Africa, the slightly overlong Invictus takes its title — Latin for unconquered — from a poem that Mandela used as an inspiration during his lengthy imprisonment. Most filmmakers would offer a lengthy flashback or speech from Mandela about this experience. Eastwood, though, tells you all you need to know about the horrors of apartheid through the look on Pienaar’s face when he visits Mandela’s tiny cell. Grade: A


Other new releases this week

3 Idiots (2010) Directed by Rajkumar Hirani. While attending one of India’s premier colleges, miserable engineering students and best friends Ryan (Aamir Khan), Hari (Madhavan) and Alok (Sharman Joshi) struggle to beat their school’s draconian system, which, in their eyes, unfairly values grades over creativity. There’s an unavoidable joie de vivre and a performance charm that make this one of the more naturally gregarious Bollywood imports. Grade B

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein (2010) Directed by Nicolas Rossier, David Ridgen. As a descendent of Holocaust survivors and a passionate critic of Israel, American academic Norman Finkelstein creates controversy with his fervent opinions. This documentary profiles him, illuminating his beliefs and those of his opponents. For some, the documentary will represent the endorsement of a self-hater spouting traitorous ideas; for others, it celebrates the courage of a reviled, truth-telling martyr to the cause of academic freedom. Because it is a film, it can only begin to sketch the complicated historical and political debates that engage Finkelstein and his detractors, but it allows both sides to make their cases. Grade: B

Defamation (2009) Directed by Yoav Shamir. In addition to gathering thoughts from political scientist Norman Finkelstein, filmmaker Shamir examines contemporary anti-Semitism and the possibility of a modern-day Jewish holocaust in his documentary. While he takes an evenhanded approach, the filmmaker appears on camera far too often and goes off point as frequently as Roger Moore. Grade: C

Extraordinary Measures (2010) Directed by Tom Vaughan. After their two young children are diagnosed with a rare genetic disease for which conventional medicine has no cure, John (Brendan Fraser) and Aileen (Keri Russell) pin their hopes on the work of unconventional scientist Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford). Basically “Lorenzo’s Oil” without the earlier film’s visual flair. The story is poignant and compelling, but ultimately the film doesn’t have the heft it needs to fill out the big screen. The most intriguing aspects of the film relate to the behind-the-scenes politicking that goes on to keep the drug development on track, although the screenplay cheats toward the end (presumably because of time constraints and a concern that too much detail might bore audiences). Grade: C

Girl on the Train (2010) Directed by André Téchiné. A young Parisian woman (Émilie Dequenne) captures the attention of her country when she claims she’s been the target of a hate crime. The film can be described as a character study or a fictionalized slice of terribly real life. Mostly, though, it is an inquiry into the mysteries of other people. Téchiné’s many admirers will not be disappointed by this latest offering, but they might be hard-pressed to define it. Grade: B

The Messenger (2009) Directed by Oren Moverman. An injured U.S. soldier, Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), is paired up with by-the-book Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to notify families of killed soldiers — a job that bonds them as they debate different views on serving America. Messengers with the worst possible message, they nonetheless manage to be human and alive, humorous and lively. In a film that itself bears such sad tidings about the costs of war, that is an affirming, even an inspiring, gift. Grade: A

The Spy Next Door (2010) Directed by Brian Levant. While babysitting for his neighbor, Gillian (Amber Valletta), Bob (Jackie Chan) is thrust into a world of top-secret adventure after one of the kids inadvertently downloads a secret code. Chan has more chemistry with the kids than with Valletta, but the story is so insipid that it’s likely to only sadden fans of the martial-arts icon and offer little enjoyment to its young audience. Grade: D

Valentine’s Day (2010) Directed by Garry Marshall. Follows the intertwining storylines of a diverse group of Los Angelenos as they navigate their way through romance and heartbreak over the course of one Valentine’s Day. This is many lousy movies for the price of one. Grade: D

When You’re Strange (2010) Directed by Tom DiCillo. A documentary that uncovers historic, previously unseen footage of The Doors and provides new insight into the impact of their music and legacy. DiCillo does his damnedest to make this documentary unwatchable, but the subject matter is too compelling — and the vintage footage too electrifying — to be completely worthless. Grade: C-minus