What a difference a man makes, the right man that is.

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2013)

This movie, though we associate the number 42 of Jackie Robinson's Dodgers' uniform with baseball, is a film about far more than baseball; in fact it has not that much to do with the game as it does with the character of the man himself, as well as another man, Branch Rickey, and the truly important mark these two men made on American history.
I shudder to think what would have happen, how longer things would taken to change the course of civil rights and integration in the U.S. if someone with a lesser character and strength had been the one chosen by Rickey, or any other professional sport league owner.
The movie will once again depict the ugly state of relations and of racism in the years the preceded his final acceptance by the fans. If some still feel the time of shame has past, think again; it should for generations to come be a reminder that we should not forget from how far we have come and perhaps how further we have to go to be civilized.
The movie is well done; it takes you in the corridors of the game's business side and into the life of a player like no other. I don't believe any scene has been overdone or overplayed. Brian Helgeland has done a superb job with the writing of the script and it's delivery onto the screen, as he directed it. Everyone's performance was, I think, inspired and it shows. Imagine for a moment, if you will, how a spoiled, ill tempered, badly behaved and all around non model athlete of today would have impacted things back then. I have pondered that question and it makes make want to recommend the movie all that more.