An earnest and beautifully filmed retelling of the life of Jackie Robinson, 42 is a line drive of a film, totally lacking for curves. From the writer of L.A. Confidential (and the director of Payback), this is a by-the-book biopic that focuses on the early years of the first black baseball player to join the major leagues.
Chadwick Boseman portrays Robinson as a confident player uncomfortable with any kind of racial segregation. During one of our first encounters with him, Boseman's Robinson threatens to take his baseball team's bus and its $100 gas tank elsewhere if his teammates can't use the gas station's whites-only restroom.
He has a chance to prove his worth when he's plucked out of the Negro leagues by Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, who believes black ballplayers could give his team a fighting chance (and sell a lot of hot dogs).
Referred to as Mr. Rickey, the character is played by Harrison Ford, who's acting with a capital "A." Festooned in three-piece suits, fedoras and bow ties, Ford speaks in a deep, round-vowelled rumble. He's a lectern-thumping Methodist who believes in doing the right thing -- as long as it helps his boys win.
Actor Chadwick Boseman takes on the role of baseball legend Jackie Robinson (D. Stevens/Warner Bros. Pictures).
Though Ford's effort is apparent (and not entirely consistent), it's refreshing to see one of Hollywood's favourite angry men challenging himself. On the other side of the spectrum is Boseman's turn as the famous #42. The former TV actor has the easygoing grace of a great athlete, but writer-director Brian Helgeland doesn't give him much to work with.
Without the ability to fight back against racial taunts from the crowd or the bitter resentment of his own team mates, all Robinson can do is endure. As Rickey makes speech after speech on why he decided to take this brave step (for the money, because he's a Methodist or because he didn't give a black player a fair shake previously), we watch Robinson stiffen his back, strengthen his resolve and go on to become the legend we already know he'll become.
Cinematically, 42 is a sharp-looking film. D.O.P. Don Burgess brings us about as close to the action as possible, at one point capturing Robinson sliding into a base and sending clouds of dirt into the camera lens. If anything, 42 looks a bit too immaculate, whether it's Robinson's picture-perfect house to the meticulous recreation of Ebbets Field.
Allow me to offer a quick mention of two of 42's minor roles. John C. McGinley's relaxed performance as Red Barber, the Dodger's play-by-play man, is a great tribute to those announcers who at one time were the eyes and ears of sports fans. (Check out this video of the real Red Barber talking about Robinson). Also, Alan Tudyk continues to show he's one of the most versatile character actors in the business. The same man behind Wreck It Ralph's King Candy and Firefly's Wash plays, in 42, Phillies manager Ben Chapman and gives his own spin to what could have been just a cartoon cut-out of a race-baiting Southerner.
RATING: 3 out of 5
John C. McGinley appears in 42 as announcer Red Barber. (Warner Bros. Pictures)
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