Apple has exclusively debuted the first trailer for Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” and when you get around the initial akward shock of Morgan Freeman’s accent, work around the oddly structured but still somehow streamlined nature of the trailer, read the writing on the wall, etc., I think it becomes clear pretty quick what we all, rightly or wrongly, have assumed sight-unseen since day one: this looks like a bona fide Oscar contender.
I’ve been wondering aloud lately whether the film’s message of healing a nation’s wounds after extended political turmoil might not be more resonant now than we might think. The story delicately reflects the zeitgeist in some way. It looks to be one of the more traditional entries of the lot, which could make it a safe haven of sorts for the Academy.
And in any case, it certainly looks to pack an emotional wallop. Tough to argue with that stuff convincingly, but then again, maybe the “Gran Torino” snub meant more than we thought. Maybe Clint is becoming old hat. I doubt it, though.
Anyway, head on over to Apple and see the trailer for yourself, or check out the embed after the jump.
Comments
86 responses to “‘Invictus’ trailer”
Only so and so, does not get me excited to see the movie. And Damon’s accent is ridiculius.
Only so and so, does not get me excited to see the movie. And Damon’s accent is ridiculous.
Yeah, about that accent. Guy?
Finally, we get a glimpse! It looks like typical Eastwood, which (with the exception of Million Dollar Baby) never disappoints. Morgan Freeman looks extremely promising and I think he has Oscar #2 in the bag! Damon… not so much, but whatever. One thing that surprised me is how it looks more like a Sports Drama rather than a straight biopic of Mandela, which is what I was led to believe, but that doesn’t even bother me! I can’t wait for this and I will definitely see it multiple times!
That just became all kinds of front runners. And killed the entire “Obama” angle for “Precious”.
It’s going to be hard to beat Freeman. I can’t see anyone doing it. He looks great, though his accent sounds a little Bela Lugosi more than Mandela at times.
Freeman’s accent bugged me more than Damon’s? Both sounded fine, better than DiCaprio and (for natural reasons) lesser than Copely.
al b.: I believe Guy, ever since reading the script, has been pretty loud around these parts that this WASN’T going to be a straight-up biopic.
Anyway, I actually prefer these slice of life takes rather than bloated greatest hits biopics.
Brian: I never understand why people diss DiCaprio’s accent. I’ve always thought he nailed it. Granted, I’m not South African and don’t know EXACTLY what to look for, but certainly there are those who would who’ve found it to be rather spot-on.
Of course, Eastwood being a staunch McCain-Palin supporting could nullify the Obama factor, if it even exists. If Invictus gets a smear campaign, I imagine it’ll focus on that.
I don’t have a problem with DiCaprio’s accent, but it always sounded like he was doing an accent, if that makes sense.
Right now, with ten slots and after watching that trailer, I feel pretty confident to say that Invictus is a guaranteed lock. It’s got all the elements AMPAS generally loves. And Freeman is also going to come in strong this year.
Damon’s accent also bugged me.
Kinda underwhelming but I guess its expected for a completely unseen late in the season Eastwood film.
I still dont get why Morgan’s real voice was used in the VO.
Both Freeman and Damon’s accents seemed to wave in and out, I thought. The movie looks fine, however, the opening moments with Freeman’s narration (AAAGH!) and the sweeping shot of a prison it felt like a “Shawshank Redemption” sequel. “Shawshank Redemption 2: Return to Shawshank”
I have to say, to me it just looked like Morgan Freeman and sounded like Morgan Freeman.
I don’t buy it that Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela. No way. On the other hand, Matt Daemon totally disappears in the character. For me.
Of course it is Damon , my mistake .
As I said over at AD, if there were five BP slots instead of ten, then this would be in trouble (with several well loved films already looming or in the mix officially). As it is however, it would have to flop big time both commercially and critically in order to miss out. In any event, with a thinned out acting field I don’t think Freeman will miss out, and Damon looks like a strong bet as well.
Eastwood on the other hand may be the one left out of the directors race.
Damon looks great, there could definitely could be a nominated in this for him.
Wow that sentence was horrific, haha. I think you got what I meant, though.
It’s hard to sugarcoat; that just looks awful.
I’m with Brian: I think this film will kill “Precious” chances at the major awards. It has more Academy-friendly names (Damon, Freeman, Eastwood) and more Academy-friendly themes: A man seemingly beaten down by the system only to rise up and heal a nation a la Gandhi, and an underdog team/athlete overcoming disadvantages to become champions a la Rocky and Chariots of Fire. Bottom Line is: It’s familiar territory for AMPAS and becomes the favorite for the season.
No comment on the trailer itself. None whatsoever.
But since Kris asked about accents, I will say that Damon seems to be on the right track, even if it seems a little studied. Freeman, however, sounds all kinds of wrong — but that’s only one aspect of the performance. I’m on the “wait and see” fence.
I didn’t say it would kill Precious’ chances, just that the (somewhat ridiculous) Obama connections would more than likely pass over to Invictus. It might even help Precious in the long run.
My big question is who’s winning director. Jackson and Eastwood seem obvious contenders, but so soon again? Reitman? Daniels? I kind of feel like they are the only four potential winners, at this point, unless someone like Bigelow starts winning a whole shitload of critics.
I absolutely need to hear feedback from screenings before calling this anything remotely close to a frontrunner.
Is there a movie buried somewhere in that message?
I thought Damon sounded quite alright, like Guy said, better than Freeman. I study linguistics, so I know a little about what it should theoretically sound like, so it seems not too wrong.
Overall it seems like a good trailer, maybe a little lightweight for the Eastwood enthusiasts, but should be in for BP if the trailer doesn’t lie.
One of the theories I’ve read as to why Morgan isn’t always using a South African accent in the trailer is because your inner thoughts dont have accents!?
Which makes sense seeing as my internal monologues are in Dutch.
If Freeman narrates in his normal speaking voice, I could see this being butchered by every critic.
After seeing this trailer, I’m going to predict that this will be the next Charlie Wilson’s War. A big pedigree movie that everyone thinks is the one to beat at Oscar time, but ends up just being pretty good and fairly inspiring and ends up with only a few nominations (though Best Picture probably isn’t out of the question due to the expanded ten slots, it will not be a Best Director nominee).
Feel free to remember this post and laugh at me later if I’m wrong, but that’s my call and I’m sticking to it.
looks like a safe, easy to like but easy to forget film that the Academy loves to recognize. nothing that seems at all remarkable or never before seen, but nothing looks entirely bad either. I prefer Eastwood making movies like Unforgiven, Mystic River, and Gran Torino but he knows what he is doing most of the time so I will be there opening night for sure.
ok guys lets settle down, youve been waiting to jump on this forever, its officialy in the race, and it certainly is a good story with huge talent behind it, lets give it the bennefit of the doubt
At the risk of briefly turning this into IMDB, does anyone know what that song is towards the end?
Also, as long as we’re doing IMDB, lol Damon and teh black guy from Dark night are totes ghey lol [/douche]
HA @ marlowes post!
I love that song too… need to find out what it is.
Never been a superfan of Eastwood’s movies, and I was kind of underwhelmed by this trailer, but I’ll give it a shot, if only for what appears to be an interesting performance from Damon. Oh, and unless it goes the way of Charlie Wilson’s War as Hamer suggests, this is definitely in the Oscar race.
Precious…Invictus…Nine…The Hurt Locker…I really think the Best Picture winner will come from this group of four…
Gran Torino snub?
By the way, I may be remembering wrong, but wasn’t it a concern with a lot of people that Eastwood’s directoral style was too dark by nature to pull off this kind of movie? That at least seems to have been happily unfounded.
Is there a movie buried somewhere in that message? – Chad.
Based on Peckham’s draft, NO.
The most interesting thing about it is that it’s so boring! It’s like Eastwood wanted to make us believe that he didn’t make this to win another Oscar but to bore us to death. The movie could be good of course but the trailer yells “anything other than an Oscar contender”.
A born Oscar contender? The kiss of death.
Bullshit, daveylow. All I got was a nomination.
The movie looks terrible but Damon’s accent is acceptable (coming from a South African).
Joseph Fiennes was better in that movie with Diane Kruger that I can’t think of…
It looks… boring. Looks like a motivational-self help movie.
But sure, this is definitely one of the ten nominees.
Hopefully less than 120 minutes.
Damon’s accent is fine. That’s how South Africans actually sound.
I’m not sure about the movie though…
So it was Mandela who wanted the South Africans to poison the New Zealand Rugby team the night before the final?
The slight Freeman bit at the beginning and at the end is not narration, he’s reading the poem Invictus, which gives the film its title. Maybe its only for the trailer.
His accent in the movie though sounds awful. But Freeman’s always interesting to watch. From the trailer, it seems like the material does not play to Eastwood’s strengths. He’s best when he’s doing stripped down bare dramas. But he’s also my favorite director this decade by far.
odd accents, agreed. trailer fell a little flat for me but has all the elements of an oscar movie but a trailer is less than 3 minutes so who knows…. with the current slate of movies, many can claim “zeitgeist” status. i think it’s a stretch for this one. frankly, i also think it’s a stretch for precious which is a small, slice of life story about one african american abused girl which is a very focused story – certainly not relatable to everyone, as good as the performances are. the hurt locker (war) is something most of us can relate to but the movie, as critically hailed as it is hasn’t made much at the box office so something about it didn’t catch the zeitgeist, up in the air (unemployment) seems to actually have the most recognizable, accessible and universal themes – umemployment, being connected with each other, learning what matters to us most in life and the movie does it in a supremely watchable way, with humor and heart. if zeitgeist wins oscars, it makes a strong argument for up in the air, the pieces just fit.
Eh.
Let’s hope this isn’t a repeat of exactly 20 years ago when a bland white-friendly film dealing with issues of race (Driving Miss Daisy) beat out a much more deserving film dealing with issues of race (Do The Right Thing).
Precious FTW.