Not a Complete Home Run, but it is Inspiring

Rating: 7/10 (13 April 2013)

42 tells the story of famed baseball player, Jackie Robinson, and his becoming the first major league black ballplayer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 42 checks all of the boxes expected from a biopic such as this, it's historically fascinating and inspirational, featuring solid performances from its cast. Chadwick Boseman does a fine job as Jackie Robinson, but the real standouts in the cast are Alan Tudyk as racist Philadelphia Phillies' manager Ben Chapman and Harrison Ford as Dodger's owner, Branch Rickey. This is the first performance I have seen Ford do in nearly a decade where I actually enjoyed the choices he made as an actor, though I still can't figure out that growl. While the movie takes a long while in the first hour simply laying out small one minute scenes to give the historical facts necessary for the rest of the movie to work causing the film to have a lack of focus as to who the real main character of the movie is, Robinson or Rickey, once Robinson joins the Dodgers, writer/director Brian Helgeland finally takes the time to take root in scenes and explore them in great detail to create emotion rather than just hammering home a fact like a history book. Even though 42 is not a complete home run, it's an enjoyable movie that is affecting and will win over crowds.
I give 42 a 7 out of 10!