42

42 (2013)

Runtime: 128 minutes

Directed by: Brian Helgeland

Starring: Chadwick Boseman (RIP), Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Christopher Meloni, Lucas Black

From: Warner Bros.

To pay tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, use my AMC A-List app for something and see an important real life story, this movie was viewed last night at the theatre chain as they played it at many locations for a week. Jackie Robinson becoming the first Black man to play in the modern iteration of Major League Baseball (some players donned jerseys way back in the late 1800's in the sport's infancy before an unwritten rule lasting decades was enacted) is a great story and while I've heard some of the details, I thought it would be nice to see it brought to life. Plus, I am a baseball fan, having attended many games in person through the years.

It's not a comprehensive look at Jackie Robinson's life; rather, it covers 1945 (when he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues; back then Black players had their separate baseball league) 1946 (when he played minor league baseball in Montreal) and 1947, when he joined Major League Baseball as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Naturally, many fans and players-including some Dodgers-were against their owner Branch Rickey pushing this idea forward; in the third act it is revealed why Rickey took these bold steps. At the time in the United States, there were “colored” drinking fountains and bathrooms, among many measures of segregation. He had to be resolute and not let the hatred and bigotry visibly affect him as he was a trailblazer and could not crack under such immense pressure.

While a standard biopic, I was OK with that and only a small part of Robinson's life being covered; that's why there are sites like Wikipedia or perhaps those more reputable. It was a nice cast between Harrison Ford actually trying (never a guarantee in the past decade or so) as Rickey, Nicole Beharie as Jackie's wife Rachel, and of course Boseman was great in the title role. There are others that are familiar faces but I mentioned the ones that stood out the most. Doing a bit of searching, this was relatively accurate, at least by Hollywood standards. What I figured was “dramatic license” while watching the movie was proven to be correct. Unfortunately, Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman (as played by Alan Tudyk) really did unleash a nonstop torrent of horrible racial epitaphs way too vile to repeat here.

Not only do I approve of modern audiences learning such a critical story in the history of American sports, personally I was glad to see my second Chadwick Boseman movie. What a shame he could not have had a long, epic career; that said, at least he was able to shine bright for a brief amount of time and he was a big reason why 42 worked as well as it did.