Movie Review: 42

If you have watched baseball for any length of time, you are well-aware of the impact Jackie Robinson had on the game. Robinson was the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball during the 1947 season for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson paved the way for Africans-Americans in professional sports and is widely credited for being the person that started the desegregation movement in the late 1940's. 66 years after his Major League debut, Hollywood is finally telling his story and 42 does a more than amicable job of bringing the legend of Jackie Robinson to the big screen.

42 approaches the story of Jackie Robinson with a lot of power. It captures the high notes of his rise to fame with the Dodgers and unflinchingly documents the struggle he went through to achieve his success. Writer/director Brian Helgeland does not downplay the extreme prejudice and discrimination Robinson faced as he entered the league. The use of racial epithets and discriminatory behavior in this film are appropriately sickening and realistic of the time period and Robinson showed a lot of character to endure that level of hateful remarks/behavior on a daily basis. The actual story of his rise to fame isn't as thorough as I would've liked, but for what it lacks in extreme detail it makes up for in heart and inspiration. You can't help but want to stand up and cheer when Robinson accomplishes something. A majority of the scenes on and off-the-field are inspiring and poignant and give you a pretty good idea of the type of extraordinary person Robinson was. Further enhancing the power of 42 is a pair of excellent performances from Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford. Boseman gives Robinson an inherit likability and nails the unbreakable spirit and determination he had as both a player and a person. Boseman hasn't had too many major roles prior to his but his outstanding work here all but guarantees he will getting more substantial roles in the future. As good as Bosman is here, I still have to say that Harrison Ford gives this film's strongest performance as Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, the man who brought Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball. Ford hasn't put this much heart or emotion into a performance in at least twenty years. He lights up the screen every second he is on it and does great justice to the man that brought Robinsion into Major League Baseball with open arms and helped make history (inside and outside of baseball) in the process. 42 is a triumphant, inspirational biopic that manages to successfully bring the legend of Jackie Robinson to the big screen.

4/5 Stars