Review: '42'

Warner Bros.

Every year on April 15 (the date in which Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut in 1947) every single Major League Baseball player wears number 42. Due to Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier, a major step forward for race relations in the United States, the only number that is retired by every single Major League franchise is 42. So it is only appropriate that a film focusing on the origins of Robinson’s impact is titled 42. Even though it may go back and forth at times between cheesy and gritty, 42 never loses focus of the man it is honoring and the continues uphill battle he faced.    

42 begins in 1945 as Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) is playing for the Negro league’s Kansas City Monarch’s. Both Robinson’s on and off the field strengths are seen early in the film with him stealing bases in a game and fighting against discrimination when he needs to use a restroom at a gas station. This type of character along with the remarkable baseball skills Robinson possess stands out when Brooklyn Dodger’s General Manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) has the idea to sign an African American player. Robinson becomes a part of the Dodger’s organization but must begin his career by playing for their farm team, the Montreal Royals. With his wife Rachel (Nicole Beharie) and sports writer Wendell Smith (Andre Holland) by his side, Robinson quickly makes an impact for the Royals while also facing constant discrimination. With 42 focusing on Robinson all the way to the end of his rookie year with the Dodgers in 1947, discrimination and racism only gets worse as he gets closer to the Major Leagues.   

Working in the films advantage and staying true to real events, 42 presents scene after scene of Robinson facing and eventually overcoming an uphill battle. This acts as a constant reminder of how difficult everyday life was for a black man, let alone the first ever to play Major League Baseball. Through this type of construction, Writer and Director Brian Helgeland never allows the audience to only see baseball. He rightfully overshadows the sport by bringing the crippling impact of discrimination to the fore front. Yes, it rarely goes beyond anyone else being affected other than Robinson but due to the way that each scene is constructed and pieced together, 42 still manages to present the issue on a much wider scale

With these scenes of overcoming obstacles and working towards something greater comes the slight drawback of heavy corny and sentimental moments. 42 is a film that leaves nothing left unsaid. Instead of letting tension develop naturally it is often explained verbally. Like I said though, this is only a slight hiccup in the films effectiveness because there are a few scenes where tension is allowed to build and have an impact. Animosity towards Robinson is made so clear in scenes where Philadelphia Phillies’ manager Ben Chapman (Alan Tudyk) is brutally heckling Robinson or when a young boy is influenced by the hate of his father and other fans at a Dodgers game. The affects that racism can have on everyone involved is not just seen but felt in these moments.

It is these scenes, Robinson experiencing the burden of the role he is in, is where Chadwick Boseman is at his best. Boseman seamlessly switches from confident to shaken throughout the entire film but it is in these moments of terrifying verbal abuse towards Robinson that he handles emotion well. Boseman makes it clear that Robinson is strongly affected by racism by letting fear build in a gradual, subtle matter and releasing full emotional breakdown that comes off as authentic rather than over the top.

Andre Holland as African American sports reporter Wendell Smith, who like Jackie is a part of career that includes plenty of discrimination, also is solid in his projection of the fear that comes with being in such a situation. It would have been interesting to see more of his experience and struggles as he chronicled Robison. Also playing a major role in Robison breaking baseball’s color barrier is Branch Rickey which like Smith’s involvement is only briefly explored. I couldn’t help but think that getting into why Rickey is unlike anybody else in his openness to blacks playing in the major leagues would have been an extra angle of inspiration. With that said though, there is reason that the film is called 42. It’s a film that tells Jackie Robison’s story and if these other characters were given more focus it would be something else.

Robison’s story stands for much than one man becoming the first black Major League Baseball player. It’s a story of risky everything to not only make difference in one’s own life but for mankind. It’s a story of needed change. This is a theme seen over and over again in film but when it takes place in reality it is far more impactful. Of course, 42 can’t match the magnitude of Robinson’s actual impact but it takes an honest and inspirational approach to telling his story. For that it is well worth a watch.  

Grade: B