Chandler - 4/16/13
Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier in Major League Baseball. "42" breaks the N-word barrier in Hollywood. Seriously... it has to be a new record how many times that word is used.
So everyone knows the story of Jack Roosevelt Robinson, and how he was the first Negro League player to ever be signed by an MLB team. During his first season he endures a lot of racism, especially in the south where spring training is held. But Jackie is mentally strong and takes insults on the chin, and balls to the face, in order to play the game he loves.
"42" showed the above synopsis and nothing more. It wasn't really "gripping." None of the characters were that interesting, and it kinda felt like a drawn out made-for-TV movie. Harrison Ford's portrayal as Dodger owner Branch Rickey ranged from "awful southern accent" to "literally acting like Lewis Black when angry." I'm still not sure if I think Ford did a good job.
Anyway... the movie was alright. Just seemed like it tried too hard to be the "feel good movie of the summer." A good example was during the final epilog:
One of the film's villains was Phillies player/manager Ben Chapman, who would yell all sorts of racist things at Jackie from the dugout. The movie pointed out that he was eventually fired and never managed again, as if to say bad karma and racism were his downfall. In reality, Chapman not only finished the year as the Phillies manager, he also managed most of the next season. He was fired because the team was in 7th place (out of 8 teams). In fact, the Phillies went through three managers that season.
Oh well. Racism is bad. So... yeah... just remember that.
Rating - 2
No comments:
Post a Comment