42

In the mid-1940s, Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) makes it his goal to break baseball’s color barrier. To do so, he signs World War II veteran and Negro League star Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman). Robinson’s debut causes an uproar, and he has to contend not only with racist fans and opponents but a frosty reception from his own teammates. With the encouragement of Rickey, wife Rachel (Nicole Beharie), and sportswriter Wendell Smith (Andre Holland), he is able to earn respect on and off the field.

Sports movies lend themselves all too easily to cliché. Many are underdog stories, and in recent years, several have been made that honor coaches and athletes who confronted America’s ugly racial history head-on. In that sense, 42 – a movie about sportsdom’s best-known racial pioneer – is a definite throwback, but being conventional doesn’t mean it can’t also be compelling.

Directed and written by Brian Helgeland, 42 seeps itself in the spirit, if not the letter, of historicity. Granted, a few details were changed – the antics of fiery Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher (Christopher Meloni) were toned down, for instance – but there is plenty of period detail to admire, and, for baseball fans, plenty of trivia. Witness, for instance, Rickey decide against signing Satchel Paige (who would pitch into his 50s) because he was “too old.”

But 42 is more than just a sepia-toned photograph. Earnest performances bring the movie to life. Boseman, who is a good physical match for the young Robinson, plays him as both extraordinarily determined and prideful. Ford, under heavy makeup, provides the film’s moral anchor: his Rickey claims to be in it for the money but comes across as pious and guilt-ridden. The supporting performers, which include Lucas Black as Dodgers captain Pee Wee Reese and John C. McGinley as broadcaster Red Barber, all solidly fill their limited screen time. Only Alan Tudyk feels out of place. He plays Phillies manager Ben Chapman, a virulent racist, as a Southern-fried clown. No one is asking him to don Klan robes, but Tudyk’s jocular turn comes across as disconcerting.

Ultimately, that may be the only thing unexpected about this movie. Despite the well-crafted delivery, the film fails to shine any new light on its subjects. It does exactly what we expect it to. History plays out here as it might in a book. As slightly Hollywoodized biography, 42 does Robinson et al justice. As entertainment, however, this is more akin to a solid base hit than a thunderous home run.

7.75/10