Movie of the Week: 42

Alexa: I won’t lie - I picked this movie because I’m a little bit obsessed with Chadwick Boseman after “Black Panther” and “Infinity War” and I wanted an excuse to watch him in something else. But I’m also a sucker for good sports movies, and “42” is a solid one. It doesn’t try to do too much and it doesn’t drag. It’s just an all around well-made film. Jackie Robinson was such an influential figure that the filmmakers could have easily tried to stuff the movie full of significant moments from his life. But rather than skimming the surface of a vast period of time, “42” wisely focuses intently on a pivotal window in Robinson’s story - the couple of years when he broke the color barrier in baseball, first with the Montreal Royals minor league team before moving up to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The film’s portrayal of these events underscores their significance beautifully, both to the sport and to racial desegregation in America overall. Perhaps nothing captures this more powerfully than the scene in which Robinson is just trying to play the game but faces repeated, disgusting insults from Ben Chapman, the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. I love Alan Tudyk, so it’s a testament to his acting ability that he made me hate him so vehemently in that scene. And it’s easy to see why Boseman broke out after his performance in this film. It’s a measured, authentic portrayal, and he’s magnetic on screen.

Joel: 42 was probably wise to focus on the years between 1945 and 1947. There is a lot of movie worthy material in Robinson’s life both before and after these years but it’s a good thing that this movie chooses instead to focus on this specific time period. In this way, 42 is not so much a biography of Jackie Robinson, but a retelling of certain events that he happened to be a major part of. Branch Rickey is featured in this movie almost as much as Robinson is, though that might be in no small part a result of them securing Harrison Ford to play the role.

Chadwick Boseman is a major star now who has exploded into the pop culture zeitgeist over the past year, but this was his first real performance in a leading role. Even so, Boseman already displays the acting skills and charasma that we now know will catapult him to superstardom. Boseman has to carry the emotional weight of the entire movie and he does that incredibly well.

One thing that I really wanted to mention though is the choreography of the baseball scenes themselves. Obviously this movie is first and foremost about Jackie Robinson as a character, and the ramifications of the color barrier being broken for the first time. These are the scenes and the moments that really drive the story. But 42 really takes the time to capture the feel of really exciting baseball. Robinson isn’t just portrayed as a good hitter, something that is a quick and easy way to show a person being good at baseball. One of the first times we really get an extended baseball sequence, it doesn’t feature Robinson hitting the ball at all, but instead turning a walk into a run just by stealing bases. Every baseball sequence in the movie, even just in training, is well shot, well choreographed, and benefits from the time and room the movie allows these scenes to have.

Chris: The story of Jackie Robinson is a difficult one to pack into a single movie. In an ideal world, we would have an entire franchise of movies dedicated to his life. I can into this movie scared that it would be too broad and not dive too deep into major events of Robinson’s life and career and while 42 did as well as can be expected, it did suffer from have to glance over some events and rush onto the next one for the simple fact that there’s just too much stuff to cover for one movie. However, moments such as Jackie’s at-bats in Philadelphia with Alan Tudyk’s character  was given a lot of time and served as a good representation of what he faced all over the league throughout his career, especially in Robinson’s rookie year. So as some moments felt rushed, there were still plenty of scenes for the audience to sink their teeth into and give us an idea of the obstacles Robinson had to overcome. Chadwick Boseman’s simplified performance was spot on for what the role required and provided a solid foundation for the performances of the rest of the cast.

Jason: Hot dog, this movie had everybody in it! From huge names like Harrison Ford (who can do no wrong) and Alan Tudyk (who we all know I adore) to names that have just recently gotten big like our Billion Dollar boy, himself, Chadwick Boseman. And all gave great performances here. I do so love the game of baseball. It’s the one sport that I can really just sit down and watch without getting bored. Sports movies, on the other hand, are usually about as exciting to me as watching the toaster toast my toast. This one served a different purpose, though. While there have been other sports movies that have been based on real events and have dealt with the racism of America’s history, this one felt more relatable to me for some reason. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it felt more personal. Boseman’s portrayal of the icon that is Jackie Robinson felt natural. He didn’t seem like he was acting more than just being. It was a tall order and he was able to… ahem… step up to the plate.

I would like to go back and do some digging to find out if the actual details of the games shown were accurate. I’m sure they are Hollywood’ized for story reasons and I know the abuse he faced is watered down in order to keep it PG-13 but I’m more concerned with the actual plays of the game. I find that kind of thing interesting.

Anyway, great movie, great music (I’m a sucker for 40’s-50’s music), great actors. Would watch again.