42

This movie is amazing I'm British who loves baseball more than football so no doubt I planned to watch this movie and I got to say it is amazing I can't say any more go watch this movie

The legendary baseball player and civil rights icon, Jackie Robinson, assumes a superhuman archetype, persevering against fierce racism and intentional beanballs with the same level of quiet resolve and solemn dignity. It's the sort of movie that writes itself, for better and (more commonly) for worse: one dramatic figure stands up to the perils of an acidic hive mind and slowly turns the tide. On the very few occasions where we see cracks in Robinson's veneer, this film is intensely interesting. That's the real draw, to me, how a fiery man struggled to tame his emotions in the pursuit of an insurmountably lofty, important ideal. 42 only gives us a brief taste, sadly, choosing instead to invest its time in tired, overplayed vignettes (hey, it turns out southerners were resistant to integration) and a thin, after-school-special grade performance from its cast. Harrison Ford is a lot of fun as the brash, **** executive Branch Rickey, who chose to integrate MLB on his own volition, but he's so caked in makeup and under-inspected that it's tough to see the role as more than just a particularly eccentric joyride. Mildly effective, with a few dashes of quality spice, it whiffed on the potential to be so much more.

A straight-up biopic, but if you like baseball, you'll enjoy it. African-American ballplayers had some harrowing experiences in the early years, and the way Robinson (and others, such as Hank Aaron) coped with the pressure is very moving.

Hey, you know that trap of cheesiness into which sports films usually fall? Well 42 isn't in there because it is made out of cheese. 42 never left a lasting impression such as "Yeah, I would certainly want to see that again". Instead, it's basically a high school play with no depth. Granted, the actual baseball in the movie is done well, even though it constitutes a third of the movie overall. The rest of it is Jackie and racism. That's it. Racism, racism, racism. Yes, it was an issue at that time frame, but the movie beats the horse to death with another dead horse. The characters seem to be cardboard cut outs of stereotypical 40s characters, complete with really REALLY cheesy dialogue. I thought I tasted cheddar in my mouth as the little boy said "Dear Lord, please let Jackie show what he can do". I couldn't get the taste out until I hit the restroom.

42. The biopic of Jackie Robinson. The story, while inspirational, seems like that was all it was. Now, this isn't necessarily the fault of the Director and Writer or anybody else involved with making this movie, but biopics are always set up to fail, whether it be the greatest biopic ever made, or the worst. They're all set to fail. But only the strong survive. This, however, wasn't strong. Ignoring the fact that throughout the entire duration of this movie, I felt like I was watching a TV movie, the story was a generic fallacy, which only covered a part of the legacy Jackie Robinson left behind. To get with the times, you must remember that back when Jackie Robinson was just starting with the, then Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, whites hated blacks. And if was a white sport, nobody wanted to do any business with blacks. Well, I get it. Those were the times, but it was the same ole generic response with the white folk is period movies like this, "I hate blacks!" or N****** ruin everything!" something of that tone. The tone of the movie felt bland and I wasn't emotionally invested into the movie as I should have. It was heavily corny at times, and wasn't as inspirational as the actual movie was. Disappointment was what I felt leaving that theater. Because a great, inspirational man's legacy was made a mockery of with this movie.