Baseball History Reveals its Star 42; The Jackie Robinson Story

42 is a riveting sports drama, recounting the struggles of a baseball icon. The acting is superb, and story an accurate portrayal of US society with its' unjust, historical teetering of acceptance of race and colour.

42....A Baseball Gem, and Historical

42 The Legend of Baseball Finally and Deservedly Told

Synopsis:

The heroic account of Jackie Robinson,  the first black baseball player in Major League Baseball is labelled with the number 42. Discovered by Brooklyn Dodgers’ General Manager Branch Rickey, Robinson receives the opportunity to dissolve the black barriers stubbornly traditional of professional baseball with his powerful play.

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, T.R. Knight

Directed by: Brian Helgeland

Written by: Brian Helgeland

Genre: Sport Biography, Drama

Released: April 2013

The tolerance of abuse that inevitably awaits him, is the key to clinching the ability stand strong against his internal instincts to pummel those who belittle him. However in the offer to play pro ball, his manager, Rickey, (Harrison Ford)  firmly cautions he must have "the guts NOT to fight back " against the rentlentless taunting that he will likely endure.

Trailer

 Dramatizing a sports breakthrough  envelopped in racial, social, political and attitudinal meaning, this pet project of writer-director Brian Helgeland and producer Thomas Tull zeroes in on the years 1945-47, concluding with Robinson's first year in the majors. A well-spoken young man with a lovely wife-to-be, Rachel (Nicole Beharie), and none of the wild traits of some of his teammates,  he is as anxious to  win as well as to integrate the league.  He is assigned to the Montreal Royals farm team then attends Spring training in Florida which is no picnic.  His manager and other players shun him, he's unwelcome at the team hotel, forcing him to stay in a private home with a black family, and is  warned by a passerby that some fellas will be coming by to “do something” about him. As Rickey has insisted, Robinson must speak only with his actions on the field of play, and so he does, hitting a homer on opening day in Jersey City, an accomplishment boldfaced and underlined by a script that insists upon having his manager then comment, “He might be superhuman after all.”

Helgeland hammers home every achievement and then puts a halo around it, as if anyone won't get it otherwise. The racist resistance Robinson confronted is boldly and bluntly presented. Even his white Dodger teammates prepared a petition refusing to play with a black man and of Philadelphia Phillies manager Ben Chapman (Alan Tudyk) relentlessly taunted Robinson in the batter's box with the n-word and every other epithet he could muster to blurt at Jackie.

Therefore, after only one season in the minors, he makes his big-league debut on April 15, 1947, at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. Forced to play at the unfamiliar position of first base, Robinson inspires a wide range of reactions: embraced by black fans, overwhelming skepticism from reporters and  the raw viciousness delivered on the part of some opponents who deliberately slide into him roughly, and otherwise try to take him out of the game.

Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey does not disappoint. He delivers the expected lines of his character, the savvy businessman penchant,  with a love for cigars, as his dialogue cleverly moves the story forward. A key moment is Robinson’s first game with white players. The field tension dominated  between Robinson and the pitcher as he continued to steal bases. 

Robinson’s personal struggle to break the unwritten rules of segregation in sports was accurately portrayed, and as a result, a feel good story is presented about a super-talented underdog who triumphs against overwhelming adversity.

The life story of Jackie Robinson and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey.