Winnie movie 'falls flat'

Revealed on Monday, the official poster for Winnie - the highly anticipated biopic of struggle heroine Winnie Madikizela-Mandela - has done little to conceal the underwhelming critical response from the Toronto International Film Festival.

The film, directed by Darrell Roodt and shot in May last year, was screened at the festival, but failed to win many fans.

Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson (Winnie Madikizela-Mandela) plays opposite Terrence Howard (Nelson Mandela) in the film billed as an "epic untold love story".

It was reported that the movie was screened without a final soundtrack - reportedly a Diane Warren-written song sung by Hudson - and with credits missing.

The movie, which explores Madikizela-Mandela's personal and political life, was given a two out of five rating by critic Ed Gibbs, who wrote: "Those expecting the wife [Winnie] to be the centre of attention will be left bemused. Winnie and Nelson would have been a more apt title. Or simply, The Mandelas . More problematic still, the casting feels way off the mark."

Peter Debruge wrote: "These later scenes are compromised by stunningly awful make-up effects that lend Howard and Hudson a distracting rubbery look . Otherwise, the production values are reasonably good."

Roodt told blackfilm.com that he wanted Hudson and Howard "straight away", and defended them. When an unauthorised trailer of the film - based on Anna Marie du Preez Bezdrob's biography Winnie Mandela: A Life, leaked online late last year, many noted their shaky accents.

Madikizela-Mandela, through her lawyers, asked to read and approve the script, threatening legal action if she couldn't, but Roodt refused.

He reportedly said: "It's not a film for Winnie. It's a film about Winnie . It would've been amazing if I, in preproduction, could have gotten those two together in a room [Madikizela-Mandela and Hudson]. Hudson would have certainly been inspired. However, she might have been too inspired by her and sometimes it's not best to meet the person that you're going to bring to life."

No release dates have been announced for the film yet.