Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

SnoopyStyle James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes) with language skills is recruited as the censor officer to watch over prisoner Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert). His wife Gloria (Diane Kruger) is eager for the promotion. He is a true believer in fighting the African communists and would prefer to have Mandela hung for treason. His childhood on a farm and friendship with native boy Bafana had taught him the languages. James starts to see problems with the oppressive apartheid system and becomes an advocate for Mandela's rights.By all accounts, James Gregory was a professional jailer and a kind one as much as they were allowed to be. I don't see any big problems with some minor tall tales. There may be some history police coming for this. The movie faces bigger problems. James Gregory could never face more danger than the situation for other people during this time. It feels minor by comparison no matter how much the movie pumps it up. Haysbert is a solid Mandela. He doesn't have the look but he does have the presence. Joseph Fiennes is a great actor and a solid lead here.

kosmasp 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).

spheckma In the Color of Freedom we have Dennis Haysbert and Nelson Mandela in just the way I think of him, and Joseph Fiennes who was his guard for many years. Along the way we see what man is capable of at his best and that is the ability to see the truth when it is before him every day of his life, day after day, year after year. In the case of Color of Freedom we are expose to why Nelson Mandela was, and is, who he is. I suggest watching this movie first and the watching Invictus as a follow up as they tie together using the lines of the poem Invictus which, if only possible, should be the motto for everyone. As the movie slowly evolves you'll be exposed to much about the thinking of South Africa of the past, where as in Invictus you be expose to it in the future. I don't know if there is a movie which tells the story of Nelson Mandela's like before he was imprisoned, but there needs to be.

Tim Kidner This is a workmanlike, routine study of James Gregory, (Joseph Fiennes) the prison guard assigned to Nelson Mandela on Robben Island and his burgeoning relationship with the ANC leader, seen then as a trouble- making terrorist.The title comes from the young black boy that Gregory played with and whose bond was underpinned by an exchange of a bracelet. This long and faintly boring film never really sparkles or initiates, nor engages. Fiennes, however, is believable as the racist Afrikaner who, along with his materialistic wife gets a posting to Robben Island. She wants him promoted, he soon sees his job as a challenge and find that he mellows toward Mandela and then tries to help him. Diane Kruger, as Gregory's wife is even more racist than he is and she often tries to shape her husband's career into what she sees as traditional white superiority.Unfortunately, Dennis Haysbert, who plays Mandela, neither looks the part nor radiates the personality that he's now renowned for. True, much of the story though does involve him being under the strict conditions where communication is difficult. The film then progresses onto Mandela's transfer to Pollsmoor Prison, then to Victor Verser prison and then onto freedom. What is undoubted is that this story will be remade. With a bigger budget, better script and a more carefully chosen cast. Robben Island, seemingly located within sight of Table Top Mountain is akin to Alcatraz and we well know how Hollywood has eked screenplays out of that. As a film lover rather than a apartheid historian, but a respecter of Mandela I look forward to that and would suggest that the majority do the same.