42 (2013)

42 (PG-13)

"Did I see Jackie Robinson hit that ball?  Not very often..."

The life and times of race pioneer (and home plate stealing) legend Jackie Robinson is brought to the silver screen with a pandering ad-campaign obscuring a well-meaning film that shys away from delving too deep into the issues, social morays or the game of baseball to satisfy many fans.

Jackie was MLB's first black player, and the racism he faced from fans, players and management is front and center, but Jackie the man is not.  He is played well, but written without the repressed fire and anger that is widely considered to have prematurely aged the man.  Focusing only on his first tenuous record breaking year (shattering both race barriers and league records for the Brooklyn Dodgers), the movie leaves off much of Robinson's later fights for civil rights and ball players.  42 turns Jackie into more of a sketch, crude yet accurate, but without the humanity and rage the real man must have dealt with.  His white sponsor, owner Branch Rickey, gets almost as much screen time and steals many scenes as he is played with growling confidence by Harrison Ford who is allowed to be both altruistic and capitalistic as the Dodgers tenacious owner.

There are good moments (Alan Tudyk's racist midgame tirade is a standout in a mostly bland film that feels like its stepping on eggshells), but the film is just too vanilla for such an astonishing life as Robinson's.  Even as a baseball movie the film lets us down, the game is barely shown or its innate spirit goes untapped.  42 doesn't try to swing for the bleachers, but it does reach base on a Walk, so it wasn't a completely wasted at-bat.

5 African-American Movie Trailers must contain Hip Hop out of 10 (MEDIOCRE)