A solid 7, but somehow cliché, Baseball Movies should retire!

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2013)

We have seen just so many baseball films come out, like Major League with Charlie Sheen, or Babe, and countless others. Although this covers new ground with the element of racism, the plot is altogether too familiar to get past a 7 for entertainment value.
I really enjoyed Harrison Ford's speeches, but in a nutshell the plot is just too simple. A black man joins the major leagues for the first time, plays good, some white people angry, and he sticks it through. Sure there were some side plots, especially near the beginning, but they have been unnecessary. What this film needed was some good old formulaic tension on the baseball field. Sure they gave us glimpses, but we need a whole game. Like in Major League where in the end they have to play a long final game. I thought this movie was going to go there, but no, they just cut to the credits and gave us some interesting history.
Anyways, quality film, but there are much more entertaining baseball films out there. This film could have been much darker, and I think by sugar coating the struggle of Jackie Robinson they eluded an 8 or a 9 rating.