Hansie: A True Story

As an Indian kid growing up in 90's i have fague memories of this dominating South African cricket team consisting of some modern greats. Jonty, Donald, Zulu, Pollock, Cullinan, Gibbs, Gary, Mc millan brothers to name a few. But the person i really admired as a cricketer in those days was this smart, cool headed captain naming Hansie Cronje. When all this match fixing saga came up i was very upset and deep down in my heart i was praying that Hansie should deny all those allegations. But my worst fear came true when Hansie confessed everything in front of the whole world in the King's commission. Well coming to the film.. Franc did a wonderful job by letting the world know what had really happened with Hansie. The film was scene to scene enactment what must have really happened in Hansie's life. And to be honest it was difficult to sit through it coz Hansie did let down his fans, his colleagues and most importantly his nation. But are we the right person to judge him? There are some people in this world whom we want to hate, but just can't. Hansie was one of them. RIP bro. We'll always love you. 7 out of 10.

I was never a great Hansie fan, mainly because I am not that interested in sports. However, it is a intriguing story and I decided to watch the DVD to hopefully learn more of the story than what was generally published in the main stream media.

In short, except for some nice camera work, the movie was a serious disappointment in just about every other aspect.

Although Frank Rautenbach probably delivered the best performance so far of his career, I am not hopeful that he will ever be in the league of Marius Wyers or Gys de Villiers for example. I would say this is the very minimum that one can expect from a professional actor.

Why they decided to use the American actress, Sarah Thompson to play the role of Bertha, is not clear. We have more than enough pretty blond local actresses that could fill this position perfectly. She was insipid to say at the least and her accent was a major disturbance. I could not else but to wonder what the real Bertha is like.

The movie totally fails to keep one's attention and I spend a lot of time forwarding scenes. It would be torture to watch it in a cinema.

Probably the biggest disappointment, is the fact the movie did not add a single piece of information that was not available in main stream media. I would say one of the logical main objectives would be to try and answer at least some of the many questions people had about it all.

For a high budget film in any local terms, they should have done much better.

Having grown up in SA during the Hansie golden years, it was bitter sweet to watch and brought back wonderful memories BUT, for the life of me, the accent from Hansie's wife, as played by Sarah Thompson, an American, was cringe worthy to be polite. Swapping between Eastern European, British and other butchery, it was distracting and off-putting. Sorry, should have gone with an Afrikaans actors of you wanted accuracy.

The school and township inclusions in the film were a nice touch. Perhaps more original footage could have been used rather than ultra modern sky cam footage which isn't accurate of cricket in the late 90s to early 2000s.

Go in with low expectations at the best. An average 4/10 IMO.

A movie about a subject very familiar to South Africans and cricket lovers. It is an attempt by the producer (Hansie's brother) to redeem the family honour but it falls short.

The story doesn't really get under the skin of Hansie Cronje and fails to really, honestly, examine his motives for taking the bribes and ultimately betraying his team, fans and country.

While one can accept that it is difficult for actors to portray very well known living people, most of them didn't really try very hard at all.

The religious theme is way too preachy, but about what one could expect from the team (producer, director, lead actor) that also made the bible-thumping "Faith like Potatoes". Hansie's "redemption" is unconvincing. It comes across as superficial and fails to convey any sense of sincerity.

Cricket fans will also be disappointed at the quality of cricket played by actors and extras supposedly portraying one of the best teams in the world, mercifully these scenes are few and far between.

The camera work is fairly good, locations are excellent but the acting and directing is well below par.

I was left with the impression that this film, just like Faith like Potatoes, was made for the "church hall" circuit rather than general audiences. It intentionally preaches to the choir.

It seems many reviewers have missed the point of the Hansie movie.

This movie is not just about cricket and a sullied era of match fixing.

As an Australian, this movie gives us insight into the South African psyche at the time. It shows us how South Africa needed "a Hansie" to rise up into a new post-apartheid era. If Hansie was not born, they would have invented "another Hansie"; just like Australia needed "a Bradman" during the depression era to help define itself & lift its spirits.

This movie is also about how a man can be tempted despite good intentions and character. A "little leaven, leavens the whole lump".

It shows that all our heroes are flawed in some way, and that we should take them off their pedestal.

Its also about how Christians struggle with life like anyone else.

Reviews of "pious" and 'dribble" have missed the point.

As an Aussie, one thing I like about this movie is that it is not from Hollywood. Its good to get another perspective on the human condition.

A well done movie which shows us many things if we take off our blinkers and see.