Hansie: A True Story

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.

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.

Normally I'm quite critical of movies. I knew "Hansie" wouldn't be amazing and expected it to be low-budget as I knew it was a Christian movie. I was drawn to watch it because as an Australian I love cricket and admired Cronje, and (like one of the other reviewers on this board) I was interested in the South African psyche at the time.

Firstly I was quite surprised to find that the cinematography was really good. I was impressed with the production and could see that a fair bit of money had been invested into the movie. The acting wasn't standout but I expected worse - and it was good enough not for me to notice it during the film.

I have to admit I couldn't figure out some of the accents - especially Bertha (I thought she must have been English, not Safi) and some of the older men portrayed seemed to have English accents as well (the pastor, Justice King, etc).

While I know there are heaps in India, there aren't that many English-language movies about cricket - so I enjoyed watching the portrayal of famous cricket stars and I especially enjoyed the re-enactment of the last over of the 1999 World Cup Semi-final in which Alan Donald was run out. I remember watching that on live TV with mates and expecting Australia to lose the match and then the unthinkable happened. Australia went on to win the World Cup and have also won the last two (2003 and 2007). It was a pivotal point for our team and it was refreshing to see the same event from a South African point of view.

I'm giving the movie 7 out of 10 because I actually enjoyed it - and when that happens I have to rate a movie. It was actually quite sad. Not being from South Africa myself, it was interesting to see aspects of South African life that's similar to things here in Oz (e.g. backyard cricket and BBQs, sport and outdoor lifestyle).

"Hansie" is a curious film. It was produced and inspired by a team, including the subject's brother Frans, who seemed to have two motives. First posthumously to rehabilitate Hansie Cronje the fallen idol of South African cricket. Second to suggest that through Christian belief in action, "choosing life", it is possible for even the most fallen of sinners to get absolution. This makes it sound extremely slanted and precious and likely only to be of interest to those who, like Cronje, have been "born again". In fact it is a much better film that this outline indicates and I would argue that it is worth viewing by anyone who has an interest in Cronje and cricket but also in the complexities of South Africa society and human character.

The subtitle of the film is "A True Story" and it certainly takes and explains Hansie Cronje's side of the story - the personal explanation for his actions that he gave to the King Commission which investigated the match fixing allegations on behalf of the South Africa government. So the film is not investigative journalism and no new material facts about the scandal emerge. What the film does is paint in the personal issues surrounding the story – in particular Cronje's relationship with his teammates, his family and his friends. And there is a very strong message that the child is father of the man – we visit Cronje's school, Grey College, Bloemfontein, quite a lot both in flashback and in the aftermath of Cronje's death. The strict Afrikaner moral code taught by this school is contrasted with Cronje, the sinner, who falls from grace. For those at Grey, Cronje is the "Prodigal Son" and this bible story is a leitmotif of the film.

"Hansie" is clearly a sincere act of attempted redemption of Cronje's reputation by Hansie Cronje's widow, brother and others close to him. This is not to say that it ducks the tough issues – how could it as they are very much in the public domain following Cronje's confession and evidence to the investigators? It does not try to exculpate Cronje's behaviour – his greed, hubris and arrogance come across albeit tempered by strong suggestions that he was a troubled soul. The truth, of course, is that Cronje had absolutely no reason to take money from the shady world of the illegal bookmaker and to then inevitably get sucked into that world. By South African standards he was extremely well off with a lovely home, substantial income and hero status. Even after his fall from grace and death he was chosen at number 11 in the list of 100 Greatest South Africans! Is "Hansie" an inspiring story? Not to me it isn't. That some religions allow and even encourage those who have fallen to be redeemed is fine I suppose. But the barely disguised contention of the film that this rebirth (including a baptism scene) somehow eradicates the original crime is surely wrong. The choice of "Life", which must be linked to an affirmation of faith, seems a bit of a cop out. It is almost as if a "sinner who repenteth" is in some way morally superior to someone who hasn't sinned at all – or hasn't been found out!

The production values of this fairly low budget film are good – even the cricket scenes, whilst far from authentic, are to an acceptable standard – as is the location shooting in India and South Africa. The performances are good as well – Frank Rautenbach makes a convincing Cronje, the American Sarah Thompson is believable as Cronje's wife Bertha and Nick Lorentz is excellent as South Africa's coach Bob Woolmer. So "Hansie – A True Story" is a pretty good film – so far as it goes! But was I convinced that this was the whole truth about illegal betting, match fixing and the involvement of Hansie Cronje and other South Africans in this sordid business? I'm afraid not!

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.