 |
| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
There’s
no way a truly authentic Jackie Robinson biopic gets a PG-13 rating. Any film
chronicling the first black man to play baseball in the modern era would have
to dive deep into some extremely troubling subject matter and use lots of
four-letter-words. It would force viewers to face how we treat people that
society deems different or inferior. It would also have to portray its protagonist
in a humanizing light rather than bestowing sainthood up him.
That’s
not what 42 does, nor is that what it’s trying to accomplish. Instead,
writer-director Brian Helgeland provides mainstream audiences with a Cliff’s
Notes version of the extraordinary athlete and humanitarian’s life. The result
is a schmaltzy, old-fashioned movie about an important man, featuring a
star-making lead performance, a welcome return to form for a Hollywood veteran
and enjoyable work from a ton of recognizable character actors.
Helgeland
wisely narrows the film’s focus, choosing to concentrate on a three-year span
when Robinson (the remarkably charismatic Chadwick Boseman) made the jump from
baseball’s Negro leagues to become the first black man to play for a major
league team since the 1880s. The narrative is structured so viewers can gain
insight into both Robinson’s character as well as his talent for the game
before he’s thrown into the position of hero, civil rights icon and conflicted
athlete.
This
occurs because Brooklyn Dodgers president and general manager Branch Rickey
(Harrison Ford, fantastic and fully awake for the first time in years) decides
to break baseball’s color barrier for financial, publicity and humanitarian
reasons. He warns Robinson that taking job means ignoring the jeers, racial
slurs and threats of physical violence both he and his wife (the dazzling
Nicole Behaire) will undoubtedly endure. If he fights back, it will give naysayers
the excuse they need to keep the sport segregated forever.
Viewers
witness the daily indignities Robinson and his wife must shrug off, from the sideways
glances to the whites-only bathrooms to the hotels that suddenly have no
vacancies. But the film’s most powerful sequence, in which an opposing team’s
manager (Alan Tudyk) hurls racially-charged language (including almost nonstop
use of the N-word) at Robinson for an entire game, seems like the only time
Helgeland truly conveys the danger and dehumanization the trailblazer was
forced to face at all times.
Other
characters repeatedly mention Robinson’s hot temper, but viewers only get to
see it in this single – totally justifiable – instance. He walks off the field
and smashes a baseball bat to pieces so he doesn’t tear the racist coach apart.
Honestly, the film would’ve been much more genuine and interesting if the
screenplay had focused more on the character’s conflicting emotions rather than
the calm and collected persona he has to assume. (But again, that’s not happening
within the confines of a PG-13.)
Fortunately,
the outstanding performances make up for the story’s hackneyed structure. But,
judging from the film’s rare A+ CinemaScore, most audience members don’t share
my concerns. 42 is already a big hit with both baseball and movie fans.
42 is rated
PG-13 for thematic elements including language.
Grade:
B
Comments
Post a Comment