'42' Review

There was a time when I loved baseball. It was a huge part of my life both watching and playing the game. I can't get enough from the Ken Burns documentary Baseball. Who can't love Field of Dreams or the Natural?

All of those great movie memories came back in 42, the story of Jackie Robinson. He of course was the first Negro to play in baseball's Major League and therefor is a vital character in the battle for Civil Rights for all people of color.

We get a full dose of Jim Crow racism but we also get the nobility of Robinson but also the rage of a man who had to ignore all of racist rage directed against him. His hardest role was often convincing his teammates that he deserved to play with them. This film is not afraid to show how strong racism in America was, especially in post-WW II America.

Harrison Ford does a much better job that I would have expected as Branch Rickey, the owner of the Dodgers who fought for Robinson to play in Majors despite the 'gentleman's agreement' between all the owners that baseball would remain a whites only game. Ford gets many meaty one liners to toss out from behind his desk. I would like to have seen him do this part on stage and this film has a stage feel to it...but a stage feel with gloriously filmed baseball scenes. The games are not important but show the blatant racism that was publically acceptable at that time in history.

The film doesn't have the usual storytelling beats and that made it interesting. It jumps from scene to scene and gives the audience just the highlights that they need to preserve the rightful legend that is Jackie Robinson. The one scene with Pee Wee Reese, a teammate of Robinsons who, with a simple gesture, shows us the dignity of the man, is worth the price of admission for me. I knew the story of Robinson but the one moment by Reese was unknown to me. I got a bit teary eyed for all the right reasons.

The movie also plays up the strong relationship between Jackie and his wife. She has a lot to do with his success in those early difficult years. This is as much a love story as a baseball story.

Chadwick Boseman is well cast in a role that would be ruined in the hands of someone like Will Smith who I am sure was an early choice by the producers. He comes without the baggage of a more established actor and that helps him give a fantastic performance.



I know today I will be spending some time with my Ken Burns Baseball documentary, especially the episode about Robinson. The movie made me want to learn more about the man and the period in history of Baseball and that is what any good biopic should do.