Wonderful Film On Many Levels

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2013)

I have to say I was very impressed with this film and it's FAR better than what I expected. It plays with more heart and better balance than most other films that tackle this well covered subject. It's sentimental but in a very good way. Some people may label that as cheese but it works perfectly here.
As expected, Jackie's perspective and his trials were covered but the film offers a glimpse of the era and other character motivations are touched upon. It was great to see that not every white guy was portrayed as an ignorant redneck fool. There's a fair share of them in the film but there were a fair share of them back then as well. This is almost as much Branch Rickey's (Harrison Ford) movie as it is Jackie's. The supporting characters are wonderful. The baseball itself is sound and shot very well. I was pleasantly surprised to see the faith aspect was actually quite strong. A great line from the film said to Jackie by Rickey: "You need to be like our Savior and have the guts to turn the other cheek." It seems both Rickey and Robinson were devote Christians and the story did not shy away from that factor. Like everything, they played it right without too heavy a hand.