The life and legacy of Jackie Robinson is celebrated in the recently release biopic 42. The Warner Brothers picture, released on April 12, has been anticipated for a while and has received positive reviews. 42 has created an enormous buzz for both movie goers and baseball fans, as it gives a great history lesson of both baseball and America in a diverse time.
The film primarily takes place in mid- to late 1940s, when the Brooklyn Dodgers took a gamble and signed an African-American ballplayer to break the color barrier. That ballplayer who they took a gamble on would be Jackie Robinson; a man who went carried himself with courage and honor.
42 stars veteran actor Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers executive who signed signs Robinson. Ford does a great job playing the Hall of Fame executive and certainly proves to be the right man for this role. Robinson is played by Chadwick Boseman, an actor not known to many, but he, does a wonderful job bringing the life of Robinson to the big screen. This role is indeed a breakthrough role for Boseman. Both of these man men do a wonderful job reliving a groundbreaking relationship that occurred in a time of turmoil.
Both Ford and Bosewick helped make the film a smash-hit at the box office on its opening weekend, as it brought in $27 million dollars. This made history, as it was the best opening for a baseball themed movie in the history of Hollywood. That says something as many baseball classics have been released over the years, such as Eight Man Out and Bull Durham. However, 42 might be the best of them all.
42 continues the recent trend of successful biographical movies. These recent films include Milk, Argo, and Lincoln. Those movies received Oscar gold and many movie critics feel that 42 has a great chance at winning an Oscar next February.
If that does happen it will not be a shocker, as this film is a cinema masterpiece. Director Brian Helgeland does a remarkable job of bringing out emotion throughout the film. These emotions range from angriness, to happiness, to sadness, to love. This film is an emotional rollercoaster that makes everyone that sees it feel almost every emotion imaginable.
42 is a not just a homerun, but a grand slam. It is a movie that will be shown to many generations to come. It gives a great lesson into how far America has come in such a short time. However, if it were not for the heroism of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, this move may not be as good or even possible. Everybody should see 42. It will not disappoint and it is well worth it. This movie gets an A+ grade
STARING
Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson
Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey
Andre Holland as Wendell Smith
Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher
John C. McGinley as Red Barber
Nicole Beharie as Rachel Isum Robinson
C. J. Nitkowski as Dutch Leonard[5]
T. R. Knight as Harold Parrott
29. April 2013 at 8:11 AM
Great review! You do a good job a providing a synopsis and a quick grade for people to use as a gauge. I noticed a few grammatical errors, such as missing commas, and also in the second to last paragraph when you describe the emotions this film evokes, “happy” and “sad” should be changed to “happiness” and “sadness”.
29. April 2013 at 8:53 PM
Great article. good information at the end