Another South African biopic fail? Many think so.

After watching the trailer for The Forgiven, a film based on Desmond Tutu and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, would-be fans are not impressed.

The film imagines a meeting between Tutu [Forest Whitaker] and prisoner Piet Blomfield [Eric Bana], who is looking for mercy. Set inside a high-security prison, the thriller [it’s a thriller?] plays out like an “explosive cat-and-mouse game,” reports Times LIVE:

The Forgiven is based on Michael Ashton’s play, “The Archbishop and The Antichrist”. The project was first announced six years ago and at one time even included Vince Vaughn.

After several years in production, the film will finally see the light of day when it’s released this month – but fans immediately slammed Whitaker’s accent, as well as his obvious lack of resemblance to Tutu:

Taking to social media and the comments section of the trailer, viewers predicted that Forest would struggle with the accent as much as he did in Black Panther. While others suggested that he looked nothing like Tutu.

When Tutu heard that Forest Whitaker would play him, he warned him not to speak like he did in Black Panther pic.twitter.com/XzKfRZBxkZ

— Khaya Dlanga (@khayadlanga) March 3, 2018

Watch the trailer, below, and see for yourself:

Sure, those are two decent actors, but Hollywood really needs to work on its South African accent.

The film’s producers said that they decided to cast Whitaker as the “Hollywood star brought depth and power to the role”:

“Forest Whitaker brings a great sense of depth and power to all his performances and he is the perfect match for Tutu’s complex character,” president of 13 Films Tannaz Anisi said.

Archbishop Tutu said in a statement that this film comes at just the right time, reports Okay Africa:

“This timely, compelling and intelligent film, movingly, and above all humanely, captures what it felt like to be working with those selfless members of the TRC who strove, often against the odds, to help bring both truth and reconciliation to the ordinary people of South Africa,” Tutu says. “The film is a tribute to the remarkable and healing power of forgiveness and the outstanding compassion and courage of those who offered love and forgiveness as an antidote to hate and inhumanity. This is not only a film about a certain time and place, it is a pean of hope to humanity at large.”

Of course, The Forgiven follows the Oscar Pistorious shocker from Lifetime, but let’s hope it’s not nearly as bad. Time will tell.

The film opens in the US on Friday, March 9, with a South African release date yet to be confirmed.

[source :timeslive]