42

42, the latest film from director Brian Helgeland is in a word, marvelous. This movie is a crowd pleaser from beginning to end. While it steered clear of anything too deep, it did touch on the dangers Jackie Robinson faced by being the first Black man to play major league baseball. The performances were impressive as was the look of the film. Because of that, 42 gets four buckets of Killer Korn.



I know the telling of Jackie Robinson's life has been a dream project for Spike Lee and had he been able to get financing I wonder what he could have done with it. Would Spike have done a better job of bringing Jackie's life to the screen better than director Brian Helgeland? That's hard to say and while I do hope Spike gets to make his film on Jackie Robinson, the bar for ANY Jackie Robinson film has been raised with 42. This film is marvelous in every facet. It's got humor, fire, passion, and great performances. 42 is carried on the very capable shoulders of Chadwick Boseman who plays Jackie Robinson. For a man whose previous work was predominantly in the TV realm, this movie may very well be his break out. Starring alongside him is Harrison Ford playing Branch Rickey, a role he was born to play. Nicole Beharie plays the supportive and loving Rachel Robinson, Christopher Meloni plays Leo Durocher, Lucas Black plays the mind changing Pee Wee Reese, and Andre Holland plays the sage sports reporter Wendell Smith.


We are immediately given a view of Jackie's take no crap attitude when his baseball team's bus pulls into a gas station. The gas attendant begins to pump gas into the bus but won't allow Jackie to use the bathroom. The team knows what's coming and they stand there holding their breath as Jackie tell the attendant to take the hose out of the gas tank, that they will buy their ninety-nine gallons of gas from someone else. Weighing the pressure of the dollar, the attendant relents and allows Jackie to use the restroom. That's just a taste of the man that would be picked by the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey. The moments between Jackie and Branch, if they happened in any way like what's portrayed on the screen must have been amazing. The moments on the screen between these men are tender and poignant. At first Branch states the reason for integrating baseball is because Black people like baseball too and their money is as green as white baseball fans, but when Jackie pushes him to answer why he specifically was the man to do it, Branch touchingly explains what inspired him. It's a great moment and I'll be surprised if Harrison doesn't get a nomination. When he tells Jackie that he is the medicine the country needs, it all makes sense.

The moment of 42 which was in fact the moment of Jackie's rookie year was when Pee Wee Reese put his arm around Jackie's shoulder when they played Cincinnati. Before that game, Pee Wee gets hate mail and brings it to Branch and explains he doesn't appreciate it and isn't sure of what he should do. Branch then pulls out all the hate mail Jackie has received, threats on his life, his wife's life, even their newborn son should Jackie stay in baseball. To see what inspired that moment was special for me, to see the light bulb go on over Pee Wee's head and how he realized his one little letter paled in comparison to the hundreds of letters Jackie has gotten was nothing. When the Dodgers took the field and Jackie came out of the dugout, the vileness the crowd displayed even affected the children in the crowd. It stayed that way until Pee Wee ran over to Jackie and draped his arm around him to show those in the stands and around the country that there was nothing wrong with admiring Jackie. That if you had a problem with Jackie based just on the color of his skin then the problem wasn't with him, it was with you.

The digital work was extremely well done which surprised me because it looked really bad in the trailer. On screen though the CGI work is stellar, as is the production design by Richard Hoover and costume design by Caroline Harris. The clothes were impeccable, the baseball uniforms looked authentic, and the cars were right out of the 1940's. The score by one of my favorites, Mark Isham is heroic in theme but sounds like it leaned too heavily on Randy Newman's work for The Natural. It's still well done, though it could have used more focus on melody and not so much fanfare. Now this film is not perfect and there is one glaring and gaping hole in this telling of Jackie's life in baseball but that in no way lessens how marvelous 42 is. I highly recommend it, baseball fan or not you will enjoy this movie so go see it and I'll see you at the theater.