"42" Review

Hall of Fame Acting
Baseball is defined as a ball game played between two teams of nine on a field with a diamond-shaped circuit of four bases. Baseball is also known as America’s favorite pastime, and because of the sport of baseball being so notorious in America much of our slang is related to baseball. For example, after watching a movie you might say “Wow, that director really hit it out of the park with that movie.” Those were my exact words after watching, what will soon be one of America’s greatest sports movies, “42.”
In today’s movie era it is hard to find a movie that relates to more than just one audience; it is even harder to find a true sports movie that can appeal not only to sports fans, but also to a vast majority of the United States. Brian Helgeland’s story of Jackie Robinson in the movie “42” is one of the few movies that I have seen that does just this. The movie”42” is about the iconic Jackie Robinson, played by Chadwick Boseman. In this movie we watch as a young Jackie Robinson slowly begins to break the racial barrier within baseball. One of the quotes in the movie that really stuck with me was one made by Branch Rickey, who was played by Harrison Ford. Branch said “Jackie Robinson. A black man in white baseball.” The plotline in this movie was not just about the sport of baseball, but also about how baseball was viewed as a white sport. In todays Major League Baseball approximately forty percent of all MLB players are not white, and of that forty percent approximately nine percent of players are African American. Jackie Robinson opened up the pathway for a wide variety of racial groups to participate in this countrywide phenomenon.
Brian Helgeland's movie, “42”, is about the notable Brooklyn Dodgers 1947 baseball season when general manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) makes the decision to sign the first black Major League player, Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman). Throughout the entire movie Robinson faces foul and malicious racism from other clubs, fans, and on occasion his own teammates. Rickey, the Dodgers manager, is fully aware of Robinson’s quick temper on and off the field and makes Robinson agree not to fight back during all the racial insults. By following that advice, Robinson allows his remarkable athletic talent to speak for itself, and soon the first-year player becomes one the most popular and well-known players to ever wear a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. Although this movie is not about Jackie’s complete life, the two short years that this movie features is more than enough to teach everyone in your family a little life lesson. Jackie and the infamous Branch Rickey look to change the game of baseball by desegregating the sport, one pissed of player at a time. The dramatic true story is one worth your time. The story behind Jackie Robinson’s break into Major League Baseball is not just about the talents that this young African American was blessed with, but the hardships that Jackie, and soon his fellow teammates experienced. This movie’s outstanding cast, exceptional story line and above average acting will draw you in and make you yearn for the next years of young Jackie’s historical legend.
The humility and suffering Jackie went through during this time was unbearable to watch, but he took the cruelty with tons of class and few tears. Some people believe that knowing Jackie’s move from Negro League Baseball into Major League Baseball in order to break the racial barrier is everything you need to know about Jackie’s life. They are sadly mistaken. Jackie Robinson’s life is a story in itself. With that being said, some may argue that this movie does Jackie Robinson complete justice for his athletic ability. I could not disagree more. I think the only flaw that this movie has is the lack of Robinson’s baseball career and family history. Now do not get me wrong, Helgeland showed the major moments that set Jackie apart from the rest of the baseball players, but he did not express to the audience how hard Jackie worked and his baseball achievements other than breaking the racial barrier. This movie portrayed his move into the MLB very honestly but the little details of his baseball talents are what it lacked. For example, Robinson was known for his stellar base running ability. He had feet like lightning and moved around the bases as if he were floating on a cloud. These were the scenes that made you want to watch this phenomenal baseball player play the sport he fell in love with twenty years before. Whether you are an athlete or not you can watch Boseman interpret Jackie’s feelings towards this beloved game and you feel as though you are watching the original Jackie Robinson, but there were very few of these utterly astonishing scenes. You yearned for these types of scenes when Jackie was being portrayed as the athlete that he really should be honored as.
Brian Helgeland did a fantastic job at finding an actor like Boseman to portray Robinson’s love for the game. Chadwick plays a stellar Robinson; the baseball scenes are flawless, and make you feel as though he is really Robinson. He plays the game as though it is his second nature. He shows the emotion and love for the game as you could imagine Robinson doing himself. The emotion towards his teammates make you feel almost as if you were going through these hardships with him. The emotions in this movie are harder for some people rather than others. Many people may watch this movie and it brings back the memories of that season in 1942 when Jackie took his first step onto the field as the starting first basemen for the Brooklyn Dodgers, while others may be reminded of the racial injustice they had to endure. Then there are the people who know nothing about Robinson other than the fact that he is a memorable Major League Baseball player. Even I, whom is a baseball fanatic, did not know nor realize, until watching this movie, how hard it was to be an African American in a dominant white sport and prosper in it. For many the idea of racism almost does not seem real. Many people do not truly understand the absolutely appalling suffering that African Americans went through. These hardships were not just in sports, but also in everyday life. The movie “42” opens up many people’s eyes, especially the younger generation who were not around for this horrible time, to the racial injustice that went on during the early nineteen hundreds. Many people who are not die hard sports addicts might think that this movie can be hard to relate to, but when you watch and begin to understand that this was not just about Jackie Robinson’s baseball career; it was about the racial barrier within the United States itself, that when your drawn in to the absolutely fantastic story line. Everyone enjoys a great sports movie whether it is fictional or a true story. For many people the movie’s they prefer to watch are about the underdog succeeding, and unsurprisingly it is the same for this movie. We like when the person with the most adversities rises to the top, and many true sports stories have just that in the story line. We do not love the movie “Remember the Titans” just because of the wins and losses or because of the cute little girl that marches around on the sidelines. We like that the coach and the players rise up out of what seemed like an unbearable situation and come together to fight not for the name on the back of their shirt or the color of their skin, but the name on the front of their shirt, for their team. Helgeland does exactly this, he finds the hero in the horror. In “42” we watch as Jackie rises up to overcome the racial obstacles placed before him. This is the same for the classic and award winning movie “Remember the Titans.” The boys work together to overcome everything that stands in their way including racial differences. We look for the heroic characters that rise above and beyond to achieve their dreams while opening pathways for others, just as Jackie did. He opened the pathway for not only African American baseball players, but for the other forty percent of baseball today.
Some people may think that the movie “42” is a hard movie to relate to if you not a sports addict. If you look into the movie farther than just the baseball storyline you will notice that this movie is not really about the wins and losses of Jackie Robinson, but it is about his strong will to withstand the horrible racial slurs and the horrible lifestyle. What sends this movie above and beyond your average sports movie is the idea that it is a true story. In sports movies we are looking for that main character that in someway gives us a glimpse of hope, the hero, and the game changer. Jackie changes not only game records, but also the idea of racial injustice throughout the entire game of baseball.
This movie has everything you need to have an outstanding film production: an outstanding cast, an exceptional story line, and an above average acting. All you have to do now is sit down and really look into what the producer, Helgeland, was really trying to portray. For the people that do not look any deeper than the picture on the screen it might seem as though this is just an average movie portraying a famous athlete, but for those who really look into the script and try to find the truth in the movie. The story that no other movie could tell you, that is when you have understood exactly what the movie was about. The racial barrier in baseball still exists in some aspect of the game, but by no means is the sport close to severity of racism back in the early nineteen hundreds. So, for those of you who have not sat down and really enjoyed a great movie lately, sit down and watch the infamous Jackie Robinson change the definition of baseball forever.

Works Cited:
42. Dir. Brian Helgeland. Perf. Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford. Werner Bros, 2013. Film.
Armour, Mark, Levitt, Dan. “Baseball Demographics, 1947-2012.” Society for American Baseball Research, 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.