Invictus - a missed opportunity

I expected more from Invictus. No doubt, Nelson Mandela's idea of reducing the racial tension through sports is great. The story "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation" was well structured. But the film did not deliver well enough. I would think it is a missed opportunity. It just read the poem Invictus but did not really inspire the audience, at least me.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of fate
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years finds
And shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul

First: The first thing Nelson Mandela did once he took the office is "balancing black aspirations with white fears". Such scenes should have been more tensed with the black's expectations to get rid of all white staff and the white's insecurity, despite willing to continue serving the country. Now the film just passed the message, but did not arouse emotion.

Second: Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) got inspired during the visit to the Cell in which Nelson Mandela stayed for 27 years. He imagined Nelson Mandela being caged inside the cell, Nelson Mandela carrying out hard labor in the field, Nelson Mandela reciting the Invictus poem repeatedly to stand up when all he wanted to do is to lie down. Again, I understood what these scenes mean but I was not touched at all.

There are a few good scenes such as Nelson Mandela confronted the South African rugby board to keep Springbok team and his tea session with Francois. But with the big names like Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, I expected much more than this. What a waste a good story did not make us believed.