42

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source: 42

Was lucky to see it at Dallas International Film Festival in a huge, fully packed hall. Jackie's daughter, Sharon, was also present. She talked about her mom and dad as she saw them. The movie itself has no flaw (except that the Dodgers white players looked alike - kept losing track of who was who. Didn't like the remark about Pittsburgh either as I am a Pittsburgh fan.) Other than that, it is a great movie with great acting by Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford. Boseman could be the new Denzel Washington. He is just superb and has a great sense of humor. I believe this movie will be an Oscar contender.

42 is a movie about that particular black man, who entered the league for the very first time, challenged everyone, including his teammates and won. Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) became the pioneer athlete to stand alongside the white sportsmen on the field when segregation & racial discrimination was a "rule" in United States. However, film does not actually follow the whole story of Jackie, it more tells a story of racial revolution in baseball, which escalated after one bold decision of Brooklyn Dodgers executive - Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford). Branch was the first manager to hire a black man, a talented black man who ran fast, who could catch any ball and who could bring hundreds of black spectators to the field. And since every of them, regardless their skin color paid money to see Robinson playing, this new transfer to the team could be successful. Brian Helgeland wrote a pretty interesting and engaging script, with really good dialogues (well, he has a great experience of it from LA Confidential and Mystic River). Even though there is no much tension in the movie, it still makes you enjoy every minute of it. At first I was not comfortable with the idea of racial discrimination, because I've seen so many good movies on this topic, and it just makes me feel bored. Most of them look like each other much. I believe that any film that regards this topic, shall be very much emotional, which helps director to deliver a message successfully. The last film that affected on me, and for sure on every person, was The Help - a masterful presentation of historic segregation. But 42 does not arise rave emotions, it instead provokes great satisfaction. That is why 42 is an above average film. Picking totally unfamiliar actor, Chadwick Boseman, for lead role, which actually presents the whole idea of the movie, is a risky choice by director. But Jackie was exactly as it should be. Chad delivers a passionate, evolving character who struggles with his emotions and almost every person surrounding him. His convincing performance is really worth to call potentially one of the best performances this year. And Harrison Ford, it's been years I've not seen him acting well. In fact, the portrait of Branch Rickey is one of the best performances he'd ever had. Even though Mr. Ford gets older, he can make Brooklyn Dodgers story unbelievably interesting. As for the rest of cast, everyone is good. Maybe not the best actors you can imagine, but they make a good team and there is nothing we can reject about their performances.

This country has been racist and prejudice for years to minorities. But in that "great American pastime" baseball, it was just a "white-only" club. "Negroes" as we were called back then (and still now)who had talent could never get a chance to play in the big league , had the Negro baseball league. to play in. Then on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American baseball player. to be on the all white Brooklyn Dodgers. "42" tells the story of Jackie Robinson being signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers by team executive Branch Rickey and how it was a real challenge during his rookie season as a Brooklyn Dodgers player. I felt the film was done well with good directing by Brian Helgeland who also wrote the screenplay. He let his cast act and it shows in their performances. I liked Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson. Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey. Nicole Behanie as Rachel Robinson, and Andre Holland as Wendell Smith. These four were real standouts and I just enjoyed watching them do their roles. I felt the performances of Lucas Black, Christopher Meloni, Ryan Merriman, Alan Tudyl, John C. McGinley, T.R. Knight, James Pickens Jr., Gino Anthony Pesi, and Matt Clark were good ones that added to the film. "42" for me was a powerful and superb film that everyone should see, even if you are not a baseball fan. It looks at a period in our country where stupidity was running amuck in not treating people with respect, fairness, and looking at their color first. Two men started something that would change our lives for the better and thank God that that!!!!!

42 (2013) This is a ten star, top notch dramatic story and a four star, disappointing delivery. No, the acting isn't terrible, and in fact the filming and editing are up to normal professional levels. But that's not what makes a good movie—not alone. This is more like Disney does the Jackie Robinson Story. Oh—does that sound familiar? Yes, there is a movie called "The Jackie Robinson Story" and it stars, believe it or not, Jackie Robinson, who was not an actor and in fact couldn't hold up his end of his own story. That movie, too, falls under the bus of righteous storytelling. But of course the story IS fantastic. And important and dramatic. It needs a less fearful approach than "42" for sure. The attempts at showing his relationship with his wife are too long and generic, there is no showing of his amazing rise through the Negro leagues, there is nothing about his psychology, even—not beyond the anger and torment that are obvious. And you know full well there are good, respectable depths available (and written about) that need to see the light of day. Most of all there is only the expected here. There is blatant racism (some of it really terrible) and there is hero worship. And all of this is told in a glossy, bland way. There's even the required slow motion as Robinson rounds the bases after a key home run. Bravo, movie makers. Nice thinking! Ugh. It figures the director AND writer is someone like Brian Helgeland, with little feature directing experience (just "Payback," which is however quite good). Bravo for Harrison Ford for taking on a good role and anchoring the whole thing a little. Okay, so maybe you like feel good movies. Why not? See it. I have to admit I liked the story enough I stuck it out. I wanted to experience the events through the movie. And you can do that here. Maybe that's enough. For me it was not, and for me even further it's a shame. It doesn't put racism under the thumb enough, it doesn't make Robinson's heroic actions clear enough, it doesn't show the trap of money and necessity enough, and it doesn't even make the game of baseball as interesting as it really is. Enough.

When I reviewed the 1950 film "The Jackie Robinson Story", I made the following comment - "What I'd really like to see is a modern day version of the Jackie Robinson story that does a more thorough job of his college and military years, with a lot better look at his International League and Dodgers career". "42" comes close, as it hones in nicely on Jackie's days in the Negro Leagues and his start in the Majors with the International League Montreal Royals, a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team. The actor who portrays Robinson, Chadwick Boseman, bears an uncanny resemblance to the color barrier breaking athlete, and truth be told, actually does a better job than Robinson himself in the 1950 biopic, who displayed a surprising lack of charisma considering his accomplishments both on and off the field. Be advised however that this is not so much a sports movie as it is about the state of the country and race relations in the latter half of the 1940's. As such, some of the scenes are painful in their depictions of racial intolerance. Yet at the same time, one gets a first hand view of how Jackie's teammates came to embrace him first as an accomplished ball player and then as a teammate and friend. The Pee Wee Reese (Lucas Black) scene in the latter part of the movie becomes an emotional moment when the Dodgers shortstop steps forward to challenge a stadium full of baseball fans to accept a new era in race relations. That was one of the pivotal scenes in the film for me. Now had I not known in advance that Harrison Ford was portraying Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, I might not have figured it out on my own. Ford was totally submerged into his character, both physically and emotionally. He offered a nice balance between the often laid back approach he took to his position against the firebrand posture required when it came time to lay down the law on anti-discrimination. It was surprising to hear that his first encounter with a black ball player was forty years PRIOR to events in the film, a stunning acknowledgment that took four decades to come full circle regarding his own personal mission to combat racism. All in all, I don't think you have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this film. The period details are attentively done, and the competent casting of the support players is a big plus. Especially effective is Nicole Beharie in the role of Robinson's wife Rachel, and Andre Holland as the chronicler of Robinson's career while reporting for the Pittsburgh Courier. Elements of comic relief are layered into the story to mitigate the harsh examples of racism, and you'll get a kick out of the locker room scene when Ralph Branca (Hamish Linklater) encourages Jackie to take a shower with him. There's just no way to make that come out right, but they took a pretty good swing at it.

Snooze fest. Yawn. This movie fails miserably to draw emotion out of the audience. All the scenes that should have tugged at the heart stings fell flat. Harrison Ford's character is more like Mickey in Rocky and the nobody who played Jackie Robinson clearly took no acting lessons. Also this movie focused too heavily on the game of baseball instead of developing Robinson's character. The movie ended and I still know zero about Robinson. I guess people feel compelled to like this movie because of who it is based on. What a waste.

It's a biopic, so unless you have never heard of Jackie Robinson, there isn't going to be anything earth shattering here. It's pretty formulaic, tries WAY to hard to pull emotional heartstrings (I swear there is a dramatic horn swell every 45 seconds). You really don't get to know any of the characters, especially Jackie. Nothing about him is really revealed, except for the interplay between him and his wife, which seemed so syrupy it made my teeth hurt. Actually, most of the characters are very aloof except for the ones that just beat you over the head with there motivations. The movie is LONG: well over 2 hours. This mess wasn't really a strikeout, more of a walk.