Trailer Link

Release Date:

September 6, 2013

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A drama that chronicles the life of Winnie Mandela from her childhood through her marriage and her husband’s incarceration.”

Poster: C+

Review: As a biography design, it’s interesting enough to make it appealing. But ultimately, it’s not a very creative or original design.

Trailer: B

Review: Two Mandela projects in the same year is a bit of a stretch and this will be the first out of the gate with much bigger names attached, so it may be a bigger success. But looking at the trailers (which are strikingly similar), it seems evident that this will be the weaker of the two even if one follows Winnie and the other Nelson. I’ll give kudos to Jennifer Hudson for solid accent work.

Oscar Prospects:

It’s releasing in the dreaded Labor Day window, the period on and immediately after Labor Day that tends to be ignored by critics and audiences and may ultimately dictate that this film fails. However, I’m sure a good push could be made for Jennifer Hudson and/or Terrence Howard, but if I were them, I wouldn’t hold out much hope.

Revisions:

(August 18, 2013) Original