It takes a commanding actor to fill the shoes of the man most instrumental in ending institutionalized oppression in South Africa, and the charismatic Idris Elba proves equal to the task in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Directed by Justin Chadwick with perhaps an inhibiting sense of cultural responsibility but also with the emotional sweep that such a momentous life story demands, this is sumptuously produced epic-scale bio-drama stamped from the classic mold.