Even if you’re not a baseball fan, you won’t want to miss “42,” the true story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. “42” focuses on the pivotal years of 1945 through 1947 of Robinson’s life. He got married, signed with the Dodgers’ minor league affiliate, the Montreal Royals, and then made his major league debut.
The film makes it perfectly clear that Robinson was a man of integrity, confidence, and dare I say it … superhuman will and strength. He was so much more than a major league baseball star; he broke down barriers and exemplified the saying “grace under fire.”
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson emerged from the tunnel at Ebbets Field in a Brooklyn Dodgers’ uniform bearing the number “42.” His appearance marked a new era for not only American sports but America, period.
Chadwick Boseman (“The Express”) stars as Robinson. A native of South Carolina, Boseman graduated from Howard University and attended the prestigious British American Drama Academy at Oxford. He then began his career in the theater as a playwright, director and actor.
“42” director/writer Brian Helgeland says when Boseman auditioned for the role he selected the toughest scene in the movie. That impressed him, and it showed that Boseman truly wanted the role. Boseman said he was told not to tell anyone, not even his mother that he had won the part. He said he kept quiet, but he couldn’t stop from smiling.
We’re used to Harrison Ford bringing his “A-game” to whatever role he’s playing. As Brooklyn Dodgers president and general manager, Branch Rickey, Ford is phenomenal, and it’s amazing how much he looks like Rickey. Ford says, “It’s an incredible story about a critical step that was taken in confronting the issue of inequality. It was a moment when, ultimately we shined; a moment when we responded to the ideals of America, and finally matched the nobility of our words and ambitions with our actions.”
Rickey wanted a player who was strong enough not to fight back, who could thrive under tremendous pressure, and was a gentleman to boot, and Robinson fit the bill.
“42” is a perfect movie for today’s young people to see. It is to me the ultimate anti-bully film of the decade. What could be more menacing than racism, especially when it was the law of the land? This film unabashedly shows the hatefulness of America in the 1940s, and it also shows not everyone bought into that hate.
And “42” is a love story. Nicole Beharie (“American Violet”) stars as Rachel Robinson, and she is flawless. There is something about Beharie on screen that is pure magic, and her rich voice and royal demeanor add certain perfection to all her performances. In “42,” I believe the love that she poured on her hubby. Rachel Robinson should be proud of Beharie’s performance.
Born in Los Angeles, Rachel Annetta Isum attended UCLA. There, she met Robinson in 1941, and they married in 1946. A son, Jackie Robinson Jr., was born in November 1946. The Robinsons would later have a daughter, Sharon, and another son, David. In 1973 after the death of Robinson, Rachel founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a nonprofit organization that gives scholarships to minority youths for higher education.
Nothing took place on the screen in “42” without her approval.
“42” is one of those movies that everyone should go see, and buy when it comes out on DVD. Then when life starts kicking your butt, pop some popcorn, put your feet up, watch “42” and learn from Robinson’s life how one man faced incredible odds and changed the heart of a nation.
To learn more about “42,” go to http://42movie.warnerbros.com/. And if you’d like to see Jackie Robinson starring as himself in the “Jackie Robinson Story” with Ruby Dee and Louise Beavers, go to http://www.amazon.com/ and check it out.
“42” is in theaters Friday, It’s so “Choice.”
Gail can be reached at gail@hollywoodbychoice.com.
