Invictus Trailer Debuts Last Piece of 2009 Oscar-Bait Puzzle

James Cameron might beg to differ as long as his second, much-improved Avatar teaser awaits Web release this Friday, but the new trailer for Clint Eastwood's Invictus signals the arrival of the last real Oscar-bait sales pitch of 2009. And with its biopic creds, big themes, and bad accents by American actors, it is definitely selling hard.

Warner Bros. chose to hold its high-quality Invictus cards close to its vest throughout the fall, letting the likes of Up in the Air, An Education, Precious and other seasonal competition splash down at fests in Toronto and New York before the studio had contemplated releasing so much as a one-sheet. Now that we have sound and images to put to the name, it's kind of clear why: This thing is a prestige bludgeon, with Morgan Freeman playing the just-out-of-prison Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon portraying the rugby captain to whom Mandela turns to help unite his ravaged nation in the sport's upcoming World Cup.

Even these 151 seconds have catharsis to spare; you don't have to be the world's biggest cynic to wonder what more the full feature has to offer beyond more exotic chopper shots of South Africa and more of Damon shirtless (he had to do something to make up for the accent). But at least the spot does what it needs to do in a time of year when perception is everything and when Eastwood can't help but slap some Hollywood gloss on an increasingly inward-looking, indie-veering Oscar culture. Don't you wish you were just more... excited?

VERDICT: Wake up! Clint's talking.