…a straightforward, chronological look at Mandela’s life from boyhood to old age. It’s a carefully balanced film that may not do full justice to Mandela, but it’s more invigorating than the filmi Mandela we saw in Clint Eastwood’s Invictus.

Every nation wants a biopic that reminds it of a time when it produced great souls. Accordingly, Mandela is drenched in nobility. Given the difficulties that Mandela and his fellow South Africans have endured, it’s possible to ignore the two-hanky sentimentality, soaring finale and the experience of a half-done portrait that’s waiting for a more clear-eyed artist.