Before I went to see 42 earlier this evening, I thought about some of the most inspiring movies I’ve ever seen. Glory, Miracle, Rocky came to mind. All three are underdog stories, stories of either a military regiment, an Olympic hockey team, or an Italian Stallion unexpectedly overcoming tremendous odds to prove naysayers wrong. These movies send chills down our spine and to some people, even bring tears to our eyes, so its about time one of the greatest underdog stories of all time got a notable movie. It’s no easy task to bring a story like this to the big screen successfully, but 42 sure makes it look like it is. 42 follows the famed Jackie Robinson, the first African-American in Major League Baseball, and his first season playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers under manager Branch Rickey.
It’s not only a daring choice to have a no name wear the famed number of Jackie Robinson on his
back, it’s a statement. It’s a purposeful evasion of a big name star so that director Brian Helgeland can really bring Jackie Robinson to life on screen, instead of having Academy Award Winner so-and-so playing Jackie Robinson. Taking that honor is relative unknown Chadwick Boseman, who shines as the hero that is Jackie Robinson. 42 isn’t a film that sets out to dissect the person that was Jackie Robinson, nor does it set out to criticize him. It’s simply a film that sets out to hail him as a hero, and that’s perfectly okay, because Chadwick Boseman makes a hell of a relatable, likable, charismatic hero. He’s utterly believable and subtly powerful as the ballplayer, fronting this tremendous story with a winning, star-making performance. Harrison Ford delivers here his best performance in a long, long time. Ford’s not the action star we saw so many years ago, but he rocks the gruff old man role with wit and heart. The two share a great manager-and-player chemistry that delivers some of the most heartfelt, moving scenes of the year so far. Rounding out the cast is Alan Tudyk as the racist manager of the Phillies, biting in his language and ignorance, a physical representation of this film’s surprisingly brutal-yet-justified portrayal of racism.
42 is a nice movie to look at. Now I’m not saying it’s always easy to watch. At times, it can be grippingly horrifying to see how Robinson was treated, but Helgeland has created a beautiful period piece with his baseball drama, injecting an inspiring underdog sports film with vibrant colors and wonderful cinematography, adding up to an eye-catching visual palette that rounds out this film. This is all the setting for the wonderful story that this film tells, chronicling the times before and during Robinson’s first season on Brooklyn Dodgers. It’s a tremendous underdog story, one that rarely pulls back punches, but also one that has tons of heart and powerful moments.
Now, it goes without saying that this film follows a formula. After all, there is an unwritten law to underdog sports films that’s rarely broken. 42 doesn’t throw a curveball and break that formula, and in that way, it’s fairly predictable fare. But to say a film’s a biggest problem is that it is predictably heartwarming is not a bad thing at all considering some of the garbage we’ve seen this year so far. It all plays out by the numbers, but every beat of the inspirational underdog formula is hit so exceptionally well that all can be forgiven.
In the end, this film is an unflinching look at a dark time in our nation’s history that will also warm your heard and make you want to stand up in your seats and applause like you would at a ballgame when a star player hit a home run. I could go on with the baseball analogies, saying how Boseman is Rookie Of The Year for acting and more, but I won’t. I’ll simply cut to the chase: go see 42.
FINAL GRADE: ★★★★★★★★★ (9/10 stars)
FINAL SAY: Exceptionally acted by Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford, beautifully shot, and wonderfully told, 42 may follow a formula, but it also tells an incredible, heartwarming, and inspirational tale that can’t be ignored.
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