42

It's been a week since I saw this movie - sorry for the delay on the review.
Also, kind of sleep deprived, so it might be all over the place with lots of spelling and grammar errors. My apologies.
42 directed by Brian Helgeland is the story of how Jackie Robinson got into baseball. I loved this movie. Loved it. I liked that things weren't blown out of proportion for more suspense or drama. Well, at least I don't think they were. I'm not an expert on Jackie Robinson. I expected to cry in this movie, and I did. Only once though. =)

Most people know this story already, so I am going to keep my review short.

Starts out with Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) talking to a couple other members of his management team, and he tells them he's going to bring a negro player onto the Brooklyn Dodgers. Remember, this was in the late 1940's, so this was a risk. However, his team agrees to help him research and find someone to recruit. They find Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman).

Jackie Robinson was known for fighting segregation. He didn't just lie down and take it. He stood up for himself. This made him a good candidate for the first negro major league baseball player. But, he had to understand that if he was to take this opportunity, he couldn't fight the people who tried to bring him down. The public wouldn't see it how it actually happened. They would see it with Jackie throwing the first punch or whatever. He needed to be stronger than that. Jackie assured Mr. Rickey he could do that.

Jackie and his wife, Rachel, showed up in Florida for spring training. But they couldn't stay in the hotel with the team so they were set up in a house nearby. It didn't take long for people to show up and threaten him. The movie goes on to show the hurdles Jackie had to overcome with the public hating him, his team not accepting him, and other teams trying to bring him down. All the while, his wife supported him. She made it to as many games as she could, even after they had a child.

There is one moment in the movie where Pee Wee Reese from Kentucky, throws his arm around Jackie's shoulders where everyone, including his racist family, can see. He then says to Jackie "Who knows, maybe tomorrow we will all wear 42, then no one could tell the difference." That's when I cried. Haha.

Of course, as we all know, Jackie does overcome all those obstacles and plays for the Dodgers.

The acting in this movie was incredible. Chadwick Boseman played Jackie perfectly. He portrayed the inner struggle that Jackie had going on very well. Played him as the strong person that he was. And Harrison Ford was amazing.

I also liked that the racism wasn't underplayed. They definitely weren't afraid of the word "nigger", which is good because it makes the movie more believable. A lot of people back then really did think colored people were a lesser race.

I've read other reviews for this movie saying that the drama was too played down. But, I disagree. It showed the drama that was going on, with the death threats to Jackie and his family, the judgement that Mr. Rickey had to deal with. I think people are just too addicted to action. They wanted more suspense and fight scenes. And those just weren't necessary to make this movie great for those of us who know good movies. ;)

Sorry this review isn't as in depth as my other ones. I really want everyone to just go see it. I don't want to spoil any of the details of the movies. So.. go see it. I give it a ten out of ten.