'Maybe tomorrow, we'll all wear 42, so nobody could tell us apart.'

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2013)

This was a strange week to watch '42' for the first time - the week of the demonstrations and riots after the Zimmerman/Martin verdict. Just when we think we have a handle on racism, complete with a Black President etc, the ghosts of the past deny being forgotten. This film hopefully, now on television, will put things back into perspective if just enough people watch. Brian Helgeland wrote and directed a solid hit with a fine cast, but this is a painful film to watch on the one hand, and a celebration of one of the first cracks in the racism veneer of this country.
Briefly the story can be summarized as follows: 'In 1946, Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) is a Negro League baseball player who never takes racism lying down. Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) is a Major League team executive with a bold idea. To that end, Rickey recruits Robinson to break the unspoken color line as the first modern African American Major League player. As both anticipate, this proves a major challenge for Robinson and his family as they endure unrelenting racist hostility on and off the field, from player and fan alike. As Jackie struggles against his nature to endure such abuse without complaint, he finds allies and hope where he least expects it.'
The supporting cast is strong: the beautiful Nicole Beharie as Rachel Robinson, Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher, Andre Holland as Wendall Smith, and Ryan Merriman, Lucas Black , Alan Tudyk, Hamish Linklater, Brad Beyer, James Pickens Jr. and on and on. At times the direction is lax and the story seems to be sidetracked, but it is the powerful performance of Chadwick Boseman that keeps the spirit of the story vital.
Grady Harp