Film Review: 42

Director: Brian Helgeland

The American public love nothing more than a Baseball movie set in the past, a romantic look back at times gone by in America's most historic sport. They make Basketball and American Football movies with zeal but they never live up to the success of Baseball films such as Eight Men Out and The Pride of the Yankees, even when it comes to comedy they stand ahead like Bull Durham. In this case, 42 stands with the former as we are transported back to a world just after the end of World War II with racial segregation rife.

Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman)

Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) is one of the best player in a baseball league played exclusively by African-Americans due to racial segregation, he is taken from this environment by Brooklyn Dodgers Chief Executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) who believes he can play with white players in the Major League. The film follows his efforts in the minor league and then at the top level against a tide of racial discrimination to set a trend for generations to come.

A film that displays someone triumphing over massive adversity has been a staple of Hollywood films for decades, especially in sports movies its either been a bunch of misfits coming together to form a winning team or an individual succeeding at a time when they shouldn't. Jackie Robinson is the latter as he overcomes racism in everyday life and on the baseball field as he tries to make a living playing Baseball in the Major League. Although the plot is a familiar format the true story element adds so much more to this story and makes it a more enjoyable ride as you move towards the satisfying conclusion.

Team Executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford)

Harrison Ford comes across as a slightly zany team executive who is the mastermind behind Jackie becoming the first black player to play in Major League Baseball. Chadwick Boseman is capable in the lead role but it's a film that is less about him personally and more about what is happening around him. Jackie is largely absent on a personal level and after two hours you don't feel you know anything about him as a man, just what happened to him. John C. McGinley as announcer Red Barber is a highlight with his deft and subtle humour amongst his commentary. It is a film that is solid in pretty much ever regard but at no point does it really wow you with anything unexpected or different from what has gone before with its ties to a film like Remember the Titans. 

2/4 Solid but not ground breaking sports drama