Unremarkable and long but a pleasant enough movie. Can see why American audiences will eat this up.

Good inspirational/message/ sports movie nothing more nothing less. Loved seeing Harrison Ford play his age for once in his career. And I don't know why they are calling this a "Bio" because we are not given any type of back story prior to him being recruited by the Dodgers or all the troubles he had in later in his life. But that probably would have added another hour so that was a good idea.

42

I enjoyed the film. Though it's not one I'll remember much. It's just a good biographical film. The acting was just fine. I thought Harrison Ford was good and the guy who played Robinson as well. The baseball scenes were performed well. I wasn't a fan of the score. It was bit overdone at times. The best sequence came when you had the coach just dressing Robinson down at the plate. It was some serious language. Then, Robinson's vent in the tunnel was actually pretty emotional. That's something difficult to even present that he had to deal with that practically at every stadium everytime for probably his whole career in the MLB.

Grade - B

Harrison Ford was fantastic in this and it was entertaining but it should have had more scenes with Robinson and the other players. Still, it was very good and is very understandable why it is such a crowd pleaser.

7/10

It's kind of hard not to like the film. The acting is superb from Ford being transformed, He really talks and looks just like Rickey. And Boseman really is surprisingly great. The supporting actors in Meloni, Alan Tudyk, and Lucas Black are all great in their smaller roles. The film is a little safe and doesn't go as deep as it should, and you do feel as though a lot is glossed over, but the film is very solid from start to finish. If the whole movie went the route as the first game against the Phillies, or the scene in Cincinnati between a son and his father , this could have been the best sports film ever. The amount of tension, discomfort, and power from the scenes on field, and then in the hallway are probably early contenders for the best scenes of the year. The film is simple in its intentions, and works overall to be a very engaging film. I can see Ford, Baharie, and Boseman at least in line for some Globe nominations.

A-

I'm a sucker for a good inspirational sports movie, and this one fits the bill. Harrison Ford steals every scene he's in. B+

The movie barely goes surface deep. The one scene that I thought was interesting, and really easily the best scene in the movie, is Robinson's encounter with the Phillies' manager followed by Robinson's breakdown in the dugout tunnel. Its the one scene with actual conflict (unless you count fans taunting). The film could've used a few more scenes that had at least this much dramatic weight to them as this one did.

Everything else is kind of a paint-by-numbers after school special. That's not to say it doesn't work because it does, but it's a shame the film doesn't aspire to the kind of greatness that the man himself displayed. If there hasn't been one already, a mini-series about Jackie Robinson would be fantastic.

A couple of more random problems...

Who didn't see the hook coming that the little kid would eventually grow up to be an MLB player?

The ending. Was anyone else shocked that was the end of the movie? Typically in these kinds of movies, there's usually a big game of some sorts at the end, and that's no different here. What is different, and a problem, is that the film just kind of glosses over it. Robinson mentions to his wife that they can clinch the pennant, and then all of a sudden it's the big at bat. When Robinson hits the home run, I was sitting there thinking, "Wait, this is the end of the movie? What happened?". The movie only has two acts. I feel like the movie could've gone on for another 45 minutes. Maybe there's a director's cut coming out on Blu-ray, but since it's Brian Hegeland, I kind of doubt that there's much more than what's already here (then again, he's the director of Payback and that was cut to hell, so who knows?).

So despite my reservations, I did in fact enjoy 42 for what it was worth. Ford is great, and Boseman is impressive in his first major role.

(B)

I think it's because there is so much to cover, they should have at least focused on the last game a little more. I understand why they ended there as obviously they didn't win the world series. I think the thing that was missing the most was the world's view on it all. I mean there is almost no press coverage (Despite having a reporter follow them around the whole time) The film stays very contained, almost too contained at times, that it's trying so hard to cram so much of his life into 2hours and 20 minutes, that it never gets to breathe as much as it should. It's simply content on giving an abridged version.

Just finished watching this. The great inspirational sports movie is one of my favorite genres, and there are some movies that I just adore that this has to compete with. It does a good job, but doesn't hit the heights of my all time favorites (Rudy, Remember The Titans, Coach Carter, Cinderella Man, and The Greatest Game Ever Played), but it's a solid film. The acting by Ford and Boseman is great, and is the greatest strength of the film except for the subject itself. The biggest problem is that it seems nearly everything you'd like to know more about is glossed over. Still very entertaining though, and well worth watching.

B+

Normally I'm not a big fan of the inspirational sports movie. I really had no real interest in seeing this. But I thought it would be something my parents might enjoy so I decided to watch it with them. It was actually really enjoyable. It doesn't do anything new but I was entertained. I'm honestly surprised it was over 2 hours long because when it ended I couldn't believe it was already over. The time went by fast and I felt like there was more to tell.

7/10 ( B )