Skip to footer

'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' is a little too staid

( PG-13 ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

'Mandela' shows that adapting the leader's life as a film may be too difficult a task.

|
Courtesy of The Weinstein Company
Idris Elba and Riaad Moosa star in 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.'
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

Justin Chadwick’s “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” is a staid biopic drawn from Nelson Mandela’s autobiography.

Idris Elba plays Mandela with burly force, but Mandela’s odyssey from young lawyer and amateur boxer to prisoner on Robben Island to the president’s mansion as his nation’s first democratically elected leader is mostly hagiographic.

Maybe Mandela is one of those historical figures whose life is greater, more larger-than-life, than any mere movie could ever do justice to.

Grade: C- (Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and disturbing images, sexual content, and brief strong language.)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
Subscribe
QR Code to 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' is a little too staid
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2013/1129/Mandela-Long-Walk-to-Freedom-is-a-little-too-staid
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe