It’s tempting to dismiss "42" as sentimental rehash dished up a few decades too late. But the story of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier nearly 70 years ago remains relevant today and should be retold to every generation.
Hollywood has often used baseball to push our emotional buttons, as it does again here. Cynics will see much of this film as two-dimensional, maybe even cartoonish. It has as much in common with "The Rookie" as "Mississippi Burning," the first a mushy Disney baseball flick, the second the best movie ever about the struggle for civil rights.
Still, don’t expect a biography as much as documentation and dramatization of an important moment in history.
As Nicole Beharie, who played Robinson’s wife, Rachel, told the New York Daily News: "I knew, when we were making this movie, that we were talking about something larger than a romance or baseball."
America’s pastime and the nation’s shame collided, and courage created positive change. Go into it thinking that way and you won’t be disappointed. You might come out of it inspired.
EVEN ON ITS debut weekend, when I saw "42," most of the seats were empty and the median age in the theater was close to 50.
Too bad, because this really is a PG-13 movie suitable for kids … or, maybe we should say, students.
Of course, parents have to decide at what age and how much they want to expose their children to nastiness like the n-word. But this is very, very far from "Django Unchained," and the utterances are all critical to the story, even the incessant use by the Philadelphia manager at a key point in the film.
A tweet from Birmingham News sports columnist Kevin Scarbinsky indicates he doesn’t regret taking his youngster to see it. "How good’s the Jackie Robinson movie? Halfway through my 10-year-old son says, Next season I want to wear 42. Dang. Got something in my eye."
Warning though: There’s a scene that could generate the question, "Dad, what does ‘adultery’ mean?"
I ran into Star-Advertiser columnist Ben Wood coming out of the theater and we compared notes. We both especially liked Harrison Ford’s portrayal of Branch Rickey, the Dodgers general manager who gives Robinson his chance.
Wood was around when these events occurred and has always been a huge sports fan. But even he admits to not knowing the extent of the challenges Robinson encountered.
There were a lot in his own clubhouse. Hey, with teammates like Dixie Walker (played by Ryan Merriman), who needs racist opponents? The other side of that dynamic is presented as well, especially his friendship with Ralph Branca (Hamish Linklater).
The baseball scenes are realistic enough. Robinson had to learn to play first base on the fly; so did Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed him, and he nailed it, despite not having played baseball since Little League.
THE SCREENPLAY gives Robinson full-on hero status, the only flaw being a temper he learns to control.
If you want more depth, try Roger Kahn’s classic book "The Boys of Summer." The insights cover Robinson both as a player, and in his retirement years, when he remained active in business and politics but struggled with health and family problems. Robinson suffered from diabetes and died of a heart attack at age 53, in 1972.
Because Robinson’s years leading up to 1946 are so lightly brushed over and those after 1947 almost completely ignored, I wish this movie was not described as a biopic. Technically that may be correct, but it implies something more comprehensive.
"42" is, however, enough to remind us of the importance of Jackie Robinson’s role in history — that of baseball and society.
And to teach it to others for the first time.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.
