Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

Idris Elba plays one of the most important figures of the twentieth century.  He is given lots of monologues to showcase his acting chops, including the very famous "It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die" speech.  Elba is very good, but, in my opinion, not as good as Morgan Freeman in Invictus.

U2 redeems itself with an Oscar-nominated original song, after the disaster that was Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark.  Ordinary Love has the authentic U2 sound that we know and love.  Had it not been for the infectious Let It Go, U2 likely would have won.

Mandela lived a very full and eventful life.  The fight against apartheid was very long.  Consequently, the movie tries to squeeze in too much, moving very quickly without going into much depth or explanation.    In that respect, the film does not strike an appropriate balance.  The movie already runs nearly two and a half hours and it still moves too fast.