Clint Eastwood has made a career of speaking softly and carrying a big gun (re-inventing this archetype to great box office success in 2008's Gran Torino), but his goal this year is for audiences to leave the theater uplifted. Inspiring is the word for Invictus, which is both its strength and limitation. The film looks at the new presidency of Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman), who helps transform the Springboks rugby team from a symbol of apartheid into a unifying force, and sees them win an astounding 1995 victory for the fragile democracy of South Africa.

As a filmmaker, Eastwood is steady and prolific, with a light touch and firm hand. He knows how to get his point across with a few swift strokes, and opens Invictus on February 11, 1990 with a motorcade carrying the former political prisoner. It speeds down a modest street where on one side, a group of white teenagers practice rugby with their stern coach on a manicured lawn behind a wrought iron barrier, while on the other, black youth play ragtag soccer on a dirt field, and fling themselves on a broken chain-link fence to cheer on their Madiba.

Even before the requisite montage of news footage, which chronicles Mandela's extraordinary transformation from inmate on Robben Island to president of South Africa, Eastwood asks the central question of Invictus: How can this man, hero to one camp, scourge to the other, level the playing field? Screenwriter Anthony Peckham, adapting John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy, uses Mandela's interactions with the troubled Springboks team to showcase his keen diplomatic skills and profound understanding of the intricacies of reconciliation.

The portrait of Nelson Mandela that emerges is of an astute politician who understands just how much the smallest gesture can resonate during the tenuous transition to democracy, and a humanist aware that he needs to put aside any personal failings while building a foundation for his country's future. Taking its title from a William Ernest Henley poem, Invictus is as resolute and stalwart as its Mandela, a tireless figure who leads by example while aiming to both inspire South Africans and lead a racially united country out of its long exile.

In 1994, when Mandela first encounters Springboks Captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), it's a meet and greet at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, where the new president waves to a crowd that's cautiously friendly and politely hostile. South Africa will be hosting the World Cup, which means their rugby team automatically gets a slot, no matter how well they play. During the game against England, Mandela begins to see how the Springboks can represent their country on a global stage, even if it's not readily apparent to anyone else.

With their long history of white players and supporters, the Springboks fall on the side of Afrikaners in the South African racial divide. So when Mandela directly challenges the African National Congress, whose Ministry of Sport votes to strip the team of its name and colors, it's a test of his political clout. This scene showcases Freeman's grasp of Mandela's powerful moral authority. And when Mandela invites Pienaar to tea in the president's office in Pretoria, Freeman highlights the winning charm; he's utterly gracious without ever being deferential.

It's a beautifully nuanced performance from Morgan Freeman, illuminating this larger-than-life figure through mostly low-key encounters with staff members struggling to keep up with the indefatigable 75-year-old. To reveal this side of Mandela — the conscientious micromanager — it helps to have such a specific storyline, but that also turns Invictus into a one-note movie. Jazz musician Clint Eastwood knows how to play around a single theme and keep it interesting, but constant reiteration without further exploration keeps the storytelling shallow.

This really hinders better understanding of Francois Pienaar, who remains a stony enigma despite being so fully inhabited by Matt Damon that the actor virtually disappears into the role. This team leader is all rugged determination, fierce on the field and stoic off, yet there's little hint of what makes him such a strong ally to Mandela. Even on the team's trips to the oppressively poor black townships, to hold rugby workshops for kids who've had little exposure to the sport (or white players), Pienaar radiates rock-solid decency but not much else.

Eastwood does a journeyman's job of recreating these real-life events, finding moments of insight and humor, and expertly building up to a stirring sports movie finale. What he misses is how the Springboks achieved their resurgence as athletes. Without international experience (an apartheid boycott meant they were barred from tournaments) and scorned on their home turf (even fans jeer at the team's low-scoring, scrum-filled games), how are these rugby players able to turn the tide? The film is slim on details, focusing only on the goal.

Looking at Damon's chiseled expression beneath his sunburnt skin, it seems to have come by a sheer force of will. There's an inevitability to Invictus, even as the film details the hurdles this team faces, and the public relations decisions that are out of their control (like having the Springboks sole black player become the face of South African rugby). This small sliver of a troubled nation's history is fascinating, even if the rousing feeling of triumph captured here — a post-racial optimism — would turn out to be fleeting, in both sports and politics.

As a tribute to Nelson Mandela's particular ability to bring disparate people together, Invictus is stifled by its own nobility. Every time the filmmakers smooth out rough edges — like internecine strife within the newly empowered black majority or even Mandela's familial conflicts — they diminish their subject. Mandela certainly knew enough about defying the odds to inspire the Springboks, but getting the former ruling class to play on his team took more than even bringing a divided country together. He had to promise them the world.

© 2009, Serena Donadoni. All rights reserved.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Writer: Anthony Peckham | Adapted from Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin | Cinematography: Tom Stern | Music: Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens | Production Design: James J. Murakami | Costume Design: Deborah Hopper | Editing: Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach | Producers: Clint Eastwood, Lori McCreary, Robert Lorenz, and Mace Neufeld | Released by Warner Bros. | Running time: 113 minutes | Rated PG-13

Cast: Morgan Freeman (Nelson Mandela), Matt Damon (Francois Pienaar), Tony Kgoroge (Jason Tshabalala), Patrick Mofokeng (Linga Moonsamy), Matt Stern (Hendrick Booyens), Julian Lewis Jones (Etienne Feyder), Adyoa Andoh (Brenda Mazibuko), Bonnie Henna (Zindzi), Leleti Khumalo (Mary), Sibongile Nojila (Eunice), Patrick Lyster (Mr. Pienaar), Penny Downie (Mrs. Pienaar), Marguerite Wheatley (Nerine), McNeil Hendricks (Chester Williams), Scott Eastwood (Joel Stransky), Louis Minaar (Springbok Coach), Danny Keogh (Rugby President), Shakes Myeko (ANC Minister of Sport), Robin Smith (Johan De Villiers), and Zak Feaunati (Johan Lomu of the New Zealand All Blacks).