Not a great movie, but a thoroughly engaging and very fine one

Rating: 8/10 (14 April 2013)

100 years from now, or 50, or perhaps even 25, film courses that cover great American movies from the first part of the 21st century probably will not talk about "42." There is no innovative photography or methods of telling the story - it's pretty much "first A, then B, then C, then..." in chronological order, etc. The acting ranges from good - Harrison Ford makes Branch Rickey into a stereotypical old codger - to very good: Chadwick Boseman is very moving as Robinson, and makes him a very real individual, unlike Ford's caricature Rickey. But there is nothing really innovative about the movie-making.
There are times when the dialogue is too obvious, usually in the noble moments, and the music wells up as it does in noble moments in a thousand movies, TV programs, and television ads.
But all that said and granted, this is still one very enjoyable movie, especially the scenes on the field. The baseball games come alive, especially because Boseman is so engaging as Robinson on the field. Extremely talented, and very engaging. You don't have to be a baseball fan, or indeed know much about the game, to enjoy them, especially when Robinson is taunting the pitcher stealing bases.
There are other moments in the movie when a little outside knowledge would add to the impact, such as knowing who "Happy," the baseball commissioner, was (Happy Chandler, a former governor of Kentucky), but you can still have a great time without it.
Definitely a movie to see in the theater, so you can hear the sound of others laughing at some of the great humor.
A movie doesn't have to be a timeless example of film making in order to be a very enjoyable one.
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I enjoyed this movie in the theater when it was first released. Now that it has been released on DVD and I was able to rent it at my local Redbox, I got to see it again, and enjoyed it even more than the first time.
Chadwick Boseman's performance as Robinson is truly first-rate. But the script is not far behind him: this very intelligent and very effective script really makes you feel something of what Robinson must have gone through at the time. Terrible stuff, but it makes you feel it, to at least a degree of what he must have felt. (The scenes with the Philadelphia manager will make your skin crawl, but you'll rejoice at the end of the movie when you learn that that hateful Phily manager never went any further in baseball.)
This is not a "feel good" movie. It's much better than that. It's a remarkable testament to two very strong and strong-willed individuals who took a lot of s**t to do what they felt was right.
And it makes one hell of a good story.