Invictus

The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.

Clint Eastwood’s films have always lacked any real pace, his films are very much slow burners right from the start. Well made at times but films that develop in time. It is clear that Invictus has a subject matter that needs these sparking elements from the start and sadly doesn’t have it. Eastwood's lack of understanding for the sport of rugby is another issue, pretty much all of the games showed have no sense of excitement.

Sadly the performances are a bit of a missed opportunity also. There are some fine actors who have little to do because of the focus on Nelson Mandela played by Morgan Freeman who doesn’t quite pull off the central role, which is a shame because given freedom the likes of Matt Damon could turned into a great role.

Invictus ultimately can’t decide if it wants to be a film about Nelson Mandela and his political struggles or a sport film, the mixture of the two is its failure.

Exam

Eight candidates reach the final job application stage for dream job at a mysterious and powerful corporation and have to figure out how to beat each other in a confusing task.

The film reminded me of the Cube in it small encloses and straight constructed drama. Despite the one location the tension and interest is always on the ball.

There are a number of good performances from the relatively unknown case, with Luke Mably shining through as the standout.

Nothing is what it seems for 'Exam', the slow burner style of film making hits out to a nice conclusion.

Tight clever script, and a spot on leading performance from Mably makes Exam one of the standout British thrillers of the past five years, and director Hazeldine a one to watch.