Review: 42

Director: Brian Helgeland

Written by: Brian Helgeland

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie

Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport

Rating: PG-13

Brief Overview: The life story of Jackie Robinson during his baseball days and the signing of him to the Brooklyn Dodgers under the watchful eyes of Branch Rickey. 

Following is the trailer for 42.

What better way to spend a night at the theatre? Watching a movie about America's favorite past time is hard to beat. I mean, who doesn't like playing a game of whiffle ball on a beautiful summer day with your buds? Spitting seeds and chewing massive wads of gum (or chew) is classic. I guess I am pretty biased because I have played competitive baseball since I was a young boy, but oh well. The film 42 really seemed to capture the essence of baseball and why America loves it so much, while needing improvement on certain aspects, the movie was very enjoyable and powerful. 

We are met at the beginning with what is basically a fast history lesson of baseball and what was happening at the time the movie was depicting. It goes from touching on baseball and the relationship baseball as a sport had with the war and then directly into segregation. This "fast pace" was something that happened throughout the movie as a whole. It is something that in my opinion hurt the movie. It seemed as though there was never any connections made through characters and we never learned more about a character than you would learn talking with them for about a minute. Every relationship depicted between Jackie and other players or people in his life were "surface level." This hurt the film because it made any scene that was meant to be emotional seem very cheesy. I understand that this is such a big event and story to try to condense into a two hour (ish) movie but I think by spending more time developing relationships between characters could have really helped this movie have more of an impact that it did.  

My favorite part about 42, and what I also think was done the best, was the way they depicted the actual baseball games and the chatter that would happen while playing. Being a baseball player, I knew the story of Jackie Robison and I would suspect a majority of people know the story of Jackie as well. However, it is hard to really imagine what he as a player had to go through not only in his life outside of baseball stadiums, but specifically on the field situations. They did a fantastic job of showing what it was like for Jackie during games. There are a couple scenes in particular that really capture the emotions felt by Jackie but also the other players and coaches in the league at the time. One of these scenes does happen off the field but still in the realm of baseball. Jackie's team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, pull up to a hotel in their team bus to unload and rest before a night game. As soon as the bus enters the parking lot the Dodgers are met by the hotel owner yelling for them to leave and that they are no longer welcome to stay at their hotel. This stirs up emotion in the team and a fight almost breaks out between some of the white players and Jackie. The other scene takes place during a game and we are given a front row seat to the types of things Jackie would have to go through during games. Not only did the fans yell horrible things at him throughout, but during one of Jackie's at bats we are met with the most powerful scene in the movie. Ben Chapman, a member of the Phillies emerges from the dugout while Jackie steps up to bat. Chapman proceeds to verbally harass Jackie to no end, yelling every racist slur one could think of and more. It is a very powerful scene because while it is hard to watch, it really depicts the harshness and terrible things Jackie Robinson went through just to play a game he loved. He encountered that kind of hate everywhere he went and for years could not get away from it. That scene really hit the nail on the head and you could feel the audience in the theatre tense up and really start to get emotionally involved with the film at that point. 

Despite some cheesy acting and lack of detail 42 is a movie I would recommend to any baseball lover and really anyone who loves history. It brings a history lesson you hear in a classroom setting to life, which always gives that story a greater meaning and impact when you can see it for yourself. 

Personal Ranking: 7 out of 10

"A bunt of a movie about a homerun type of man..."