Outstanding Biography

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 2013)

The is the true story of Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947 when General Manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) hired him to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Nowadays we see Blacks in all major sporting events and no one blinks an eye because these people are very good athletes, help make the owners a lot of money and the fans very happy.
But, back in Robinson's time there was more than hell to pay for playing on a team of all-whites. The movie goes into some things regarding racism and very hurtful verbal taunts, but you must come to realize and believe that things were actually much worse than what we see on the screen. Branch Rickey's famous comment about finding someone who has the guts NOT to fight back proved to be the winning formula. And, if truth be told, the taunts, barbs and other verbal threats, in time, actually brought the all-white Dodger baseball team together and supportive of Jackie Robinson. One player even said "maybe we should all wear the number 42."
In many respects this is not an easy movie to watch because of the racism involved. We don't think now like they did back in that day, but it was what it was and it's a part of a history we wish didn't happen that way. We cringed when things went against Robinson enduring the racial taunts, but we also became quite weepy and proud when things looked up for him and went his way personally and on the field.
We get a pretty good overview of Jackie Robinson with some of his early baseball life in the minor leagues with the Montreal Royals, his personal life, negotiating with Dodger management thru Branch Rickey, and his interacting with players on his team and other teams. For more on Jackie Robinson check out Wikipedia and you will discover a lot more about him. A lot more.
Chadwick Boseman was a good choice to play Jackie Robinson and he did a very good job. Harrison Ford must have loved every minute playing Branch Rickey and from that performance we come to realize that Rickey was indeed a great man. Great job. The rest of the cast performed well.
This biography went by so quick it was over before you could say "Jackie Robinson." HA! That's how good this was. Kudos. (9/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Soft stuff only and not much of it.