Heart-breaking truth.

Rating: 10/10 (14 April 2013)

For me "42" was two hours of stomach-in-my-throat intensity and emotions. Dramatic and truthful conveyance of racism -- the Phillies manager gave a brilliant exhibition of the American racist "everyman." The Jim Crow of the late 1940's was around my birth, twenty years later John Steinbeck's reporting on the "cheerleaders" of Louisiana was similar gut-wrenching racist hatred and abuse of innocent children, and today -- voter disenfranchisement and "Deport Obama" bumper stickers. This movie is hard to watch -- truth that we want to disown is hard to watch. An exceptional piece of work. Many will criticize it for being histrionic and exaggerated. I wish it were; it's not. If you're my age you will see people in "42" that you've known. You will see a disease that has been pandered to politically throughout our lifetime. I would love to say that "42" gives us an historic perspective on just how far we've come since 1947. Yes -- it gives an accurate depiction of MLB in that era -- and that has changed. But the lump in your throat will not come from how we've changed, but from how we haven't.