Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Powerful

Must See Movie...

Excellent, smart action film.

As a family movie about sports, history, and civil rights, this film works. It is hard NOT to be compelling with this story, after all. Almost every single powerful moment or conversation actually happened. Jackie Robinson's journey was indeed epic. But there are some pretty serious flaws too. Flaw 1: Harrison Ford's attempted impersonation of Branch Rickey is super-distracting, especially because the director seems to agree with Ford that this movie is about him. Flaw 2: this feels like a Disney-fied version of history at points...too many touching changes of heart and a hero that feels a bit too perfect. So you end up with a great story and a just ok movie. Too bad, but not bad either.

I don't want to say that this isn't a story worth telling, but it wasn't a story that needed to be told. Jackie Robinson had a huge impact on baseball for sure, and it took guts and everything to do what he did. However, the only valid reason to talk about the past is if it affects what we are going to do in the present, and I don't think this qualifies. You may feel differently, and if you enjoyed this movie or think that you will enjoy it, stop reading now so that you can remain motivated by whatever you find in this movie. And don't think that I can't ruin your view of this movie because I can. So do yourself a favor and keep loving this movie and all that it means to you.Now that we have that out of the way, I can start talking. I liked this movie when I first saw it in theaters. But three years later, it just annoys me. As I watched it for the third time, I realized that it's really just two hours of the same scene being repeated thirty times over. We do feel for him after seeing the emotional abuse that he goes through, but they could have done more with the time that they had. Very likely, the people behind this movie made it because they wanted to make a difference to the lives of their audience, which is perfectly admirable. However, they confused inspiring with feel-good, as many people tend to do. This is a *feel-good* movie much more than it is an inspirational one. It's only inspirational if it makes you want to do something about what you see, and there isn't that much potential for that.Also, Jackie Robinson helped end segregation, which is not the form that racism takes anymore in America. So it mostly serves as a pat on the back to Americans showing how far we've come in 70 odd years. Now, I know why no major studio has come out with a movie that deals with modern racism or Black Lives Matter or anything like that: they want to avoid public disapproval for whatever points or portrayals they make. It's understandable but sad. However, if you want a movie that is going to actually give insight about how to solve the problems of modern race issues, this isn't the one. I'm not saying that you shouldn't watch it, but you might just want to rethink what you're looking for in your black history month movie. I wouldn't say that it's a bad movie. It has good intentions, but its heart is also stuck in the past and less capable of changing the present. Overall Rating: 6.3/10.

42 42 | Directed by Brian Hegleland | Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford42 is a movie that takes us back into a time when you both feel shame and encouraged. "I want a player who's got the guts not to fight back." This is a line in the movie 42, which is said by Branch Rickey, who is played by Harrison Ford, which sets the whole mood of this motion picture, which takes a look at the first season Jackie Robison played in the Major Leagues. Jackie Robinson, played by Chadwick Boseman, was an African American who was the first player to cross the color line of a white only baseball. The movie uses many unique techniques to take a monumental moment and cram it into a 2 hour motion picture. The camera angles used so you could see every emotion of Jackie's face throughout his struggles really tells the story of how challenging it really was to take on the task of "having guts not fight back." The editor did an excellent job of cutting us from point A to point B, and focusing in on the highlights that really let you feel the emotions of Jackie Robinson. When you see the battle of what he endured you find it hard to not really invest in what he went through and almost find yourself pulling for that next big hit or stolen base. Branch Rickey's (Ford) character I think added a value to the film that was indispensable. His gusto and sometimes light heartedness helped pull Jackie through allot of the tough times. While the movie I felt could have touched on allot more topics and struggles of his life, I felt it did a good job of showing what the beginning was like. The quickest baseball season ever from the movies standpoint, but it leaves you wondering if 2 hours only captured a few games, then what was the whole season like. So while I felt shame watching this movie, seeing the level of hate that existed, I also feel encouragement that there are people out there like Jackie Robinson who can help us push through issues and change with any situation.

The movie tells the tale of the breaking of the color barrier in baseball.But the movie also shows the racism of the times and what a big factor racism was in American culture and American sports culture at the time. The movie shows how hard it can be to do the right thing when everyone else is doing the wrong thing. This can be the case even if you are a talented baseball coach or the owner of a baseball team. But if you are on a baseball team in the 1940's or 50's and everyone else on the team is expressing racist views and they circulate a petition saying that they don't want any Negroe players on the team, what are you going to do?There is an excellent scene in the film where a father teaches his son how to be a racist at a baseball game.This movie is an excellent telling of the tale of what was required in order to break the color barrier in baseball.The casting is excellent. All of the actors do a good job.The movie has a very realistic tone to it.