42

42 (2013)

Director: Brian Helgeland 

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Christopher Meloni, Lucas Black, Andre Holland, Alan Tudyk, John C. McGinley 

Writers: Brian Helgeland 

Synopsis:

Branch Rickey (Ford), the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, decides it's time for baseball's color barrier to fall. To that end, Rickey chooses Jackie Robinson (Boseman) to be the first African-American to play in the MLB. However, Jackie's road isn't so easy as he faces intense racism not only from opposing teams and umpires but also his own teammates. The film takes us through Jackie's rise through the minor leagues and his eventual landmark first season with the Dodgers in 1947. 

First Impressions:

I love baseball and I was extremely excited to see this movie. Unfortunately, my group of friends that I normally watch movies with, don't care for the game as much as I do. Since I don't like going to movies alone, I didn't see this film in the theaters and experienced it for the first time after I purchased it on Blu-Ray.  My initial impression of the movie was surprisingly positive. As much as I love the game of baseball, I'm not terribly fond of most baseball movies, since they tend to be a bit a hokey and unrealistic. This film was different, though and it takes a sincere look at that first season Jackie played in the majors and all of the trials and tribulations he faced that year.  As a result of this sincere approach, I found the movie much more enjoyable than most baseball-related movies.

Story/Direction:

"Maybe tomorrow, we'll all wear 42, so nobody can tell us apart."

It's odd how fate works sometimes. When I watched this movie in preparation for this review, the fallout of the George Floyd murder hadn't yet begun down south. Now as I write this, there has been significant civil unrest in the U.S. as a result of the tragedy. I can't help but think how, in some ways, as a society, how far we've come and, in other, more important, ways how much we've remained stagnant. Even if you're not a baseball fan, you're likely familiar with the story of Jackie Robinson and his quest to break Major League Baseball's color barrier and, if not, you're still likely familiar with many of the events depicted in this film because they still happen today with distressing frequency.

Normally, I devote this section of my reviews to discussing the merits or shortcomings in a movie's story and direction. However, for this review under current circumstances, I think I'm going to take a different approach, so please bear with me. Instead of reviewing this movie from an artistic or technical standpoint, I'm going to review how this movie made me feel as a human being and a man of faith. 

When I watch a movie, often much of my enjoyment is derived from how much I can relate to its main character. The truth of the matter is, when it comes to the characters in 42, there's little I can relate to and yet, there's still so much value in it for me. As a white man living in Eastern Canada, I've never had to endure what Jackie had to endure. I know that much of the film is a dramatization of actual events and there's probably some creative license but I have no doubt that what he had to suffer through was probably much worse than what was shown on film. I also can't relate to Branch Rickey, who was so solid in his convictions that baseball should be integrated. This isn't because I don't agree with the change that he was trying to facilitate but it's because while I abhor racism and discrimination, I've done very little myself to combat it. I certainly don't relate to the intolerant and racist ballplayers and managers depicted in the film, such as Ben Chapman (Tudyk), who made Jackie's life a living hell that first season (and likely for the remainder of his career). 

I guess the only characters I relate to are Jackie's Dodger teammates like Ralph Branca (Hamish Linklater), Pee Wee Reese (Black) and Eddie Stanky (Jesse Luken) who silently sat for so long watching as Jackie was thrown at, spiked and demeaned by other players. For that, I am ashamed. I am ashamed because I often fool myself into thinking that there's nothing I can do because all of that stuff happens in the States and we're all cool in Canada. I am ashamed because I frequently refuse to discuss issues like this because it doesn't really affect me. Mostly, I am ashamed because I've done nothing and said nothing. I tell myself it's because I'm just one man without a platform. 

I'd like to close with some explanation of the above quote for those who aren't familiar. In the movie, the line is spoken by Pee Wee Reese and was the filmmakers' foreshadowing of MLB's Jackie Robinson Day, which was implemented in 1997. Each season on April 15, every player on every team in Major League Baseball wears the number with no names on the back of their jersey. It was intended to honor what Jackie went through that first season but it also serves as a metaphor for how we should look at each other as human beings. 

Seriously, watch this movie, even if you don't like baseball. It's worth it.

** Edit **

I am writing this after hearing of the incredibly sad news of the death of Chadwick Boseman. It was suggested to me by a friend that I revisit this review in the wake of this awful news. I realized that while my review of this film was much different than others that I've written (understandably so, given the circumstance in the world during the time of it's writing) and because of that, I didn't take the opportunity to delve into Boseman's performance in this film. So, I figured I'd take the opportunity to express my opinion of not just this performance but of all of the ones that I've been fortunate enough to see. 

I can't say enough about how good of an actor Boseman was (it still feels weird to say that). As both a major baseball fan and comic book fan, he was almost like a Godsend to a movie lover like me. Jackie died long before I was born and I never got to see him play, but I've read and heard a lot of stories about him by those who knew and played with him. Boseman was undoubtedly the best choice to play him in this film. He inhabited the role and there were a couple of points in the film where I could've sworn I was looking at Jackie, and not Chadwick, on screen. Boseman played the role with such integrity and dignity you couldn't help but be drawn in by him. Needless to say, I was overjoyed when Marvel Studios announced that he was to play the Black Panther in the MCU. I'll admit, he wasn't the first name that came to mind when I went through dream castings in my head, but when I heard the announcement, I honestly couldn't have thought of a better choice.

Looking back on his filmography, Boseman made his career out of playing iconic, and important, black figures, such as Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Mashall, and, of course, King T'Challa. It's almost as if he took the history of black people in the U.S. upon his shoulders and decided it was his responsibility to tell that story. That's a huge deal because he had to relive a lot what these individuals went through from a historical perspective, all while dealing with much of the same garbage in his day-to-day life and that's a heavy burden to bear. 

While I am sad that he will make no more movies, I am grateful that I was able to watch him in those few films that he did make. I will close with a quote from the esteemed individual for whom this movie was based on that I believe applies also to Chadwick Boseman:

"A life is not important except in the impact it had on other lives." 

Well said, Jackie. 

Rest in Peace, Chadwick Boseman. Wakanda Forever.