Or at least through the eyes of a white man. Even if you are not familiar with Mandelas story you will able to see where this is going. The story of the white man/guard might be spiked a bit and his wife does not have much to do (Diane Kruger) besides the obvious (caring for him, the safety of their family and being a faithful wife, sticking with her husband through it all).
One thing is sure, you do need a really charismatic and good actor if you want to portray a man like Mandela. And Dennis H. is one who can deliver. Even if he may not be on everyones radar, he has proved (on TV, but still), that he does have the skills and the presence to do such a job. He is not revealed immediately in the movie, which is not just another (filmmaking) trick, but serves the story or better yet the relationship between the two main man. New movies will come out and they probably will tell a better story, but this is not a bad movie either (even if predictable all the way through).
One thing is sure, you do need a really charismatic and good actor if you want to portray a man like Mandela. And Dennis H. is one who can deliver. Even if he may not be on everyones radar, he has proved (on TV, but still), that he does have the skills and the presence to do such a job. He is not revealed immediately in the movie, which is not just another (filmmaking) trick, but serves the story or better yet the relationship between the two main man. New movies will come out and they probably will tell a better story, but this is not a bad movie either (even if predictable all the way through).