Posted on 04/13/2013 11:53:57 AM PDT by EveningStar
Is anyone planning to see this?
Has anyone already seen it? If so, what did you think of it?
Review from The Orange County Register: '42' swings for the fences, but it's one, two, three strikes
The director, Brian Helgeland, also wrote the screenplay. I don’t know what his source material was.
Enjoy your movie - if only one didn’t have to sit through all the previews of stuff blowing up at ear splitting volumes!
He played his first minor league game in Jersey City’s Roosevelt Stadium , April 18, 1946
http://work.byhandmedia.com/2012/07/04/jackie-robinson-statue-in-journal-square-jersey-city/
I thought it was a good movie. Not great, but good. It was well acted, especially by Harrison Ford, who portrayed Branch Rickey so realistically, that those who knew Rickey said it was like a reincarnation. The movie accurately described the racism that Robinson endured without losing his composure, because the team mattered more than his own pride. Although the movie ended with the playoffs of his first season with the Dodgers, Jackie had a great baseball career, and accomplished much after he retired. By being the first black in major league baseball, he helped break down racial barriers, and did it with class.
Agreed, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon. Didn’t Bud Selig just request an inquiry into why more african-americans aren’t playing major league baseball? Ugh
Yeah. Bud doesn’t seem to have a very good grasp of his job. I don’t think he has been to many games lately.
Or Clarence Thomas? Or Thomas Sowell?
Instead, they glorify two-bit pimps like Malcolm Little (X) or brain-dead goons like Rueben "Hurricane" Carter.
I thought the movie was good when I saw it several weeks ago. Several other early black players were mentioned at the end of the film, but no mention of Larry Doby. I guess Cleveland doesn’t count.
Yep. They just can't settle for celebrating a black man's success without demeaning white men. And frankly, I never cared one whit about Jackie Robinson one way or the other.
Because Major League baseball is the pinnacle of refinement for the skills at play. And Jackie Robinson seemed a generally swell guy.
Vin saw "42" and liked it. He knew Rickey and said that Ford got it right.
BTW, Robinson had a excellent record as a player.
I’ve been Jackie Robinson’d to death.
In other words, he believed what the early sixties media spewed. Too bad no one took the time to point out to hom that the media were liars then as now.
As much as I would like to tap dance on this, I was wrong. Redford has a different movie out now.
Don’t worry. I’m wrong several times every day.
Yes, Doby was the first American League player.
I didn’t know about Doby and when I was reading more about Jack Robinson I came across Doby’s name.
The quote that nobody remembers who comes in second comes to mind.
I got the Archie Bunker quote wrong. He said “Jackie Robinson changed the whole complexion of the game.”
Satchel Paige should have been the first player to play in the big leagues.
We saw the movie on Friday night to a relatively full crowd. Overall, I would give it about a 7.5 out of 10. Not a great piece of cinematic history, but it was realistic to the times (with one noticeable “African-American” reference) and showed what Robinson had to deal with in 1947 America.
To counter a few whines from previous posters:
The movie covered the 1947 season ONLY. Heck, it didn’t even talk about the World Series that they lost to the Yankees that year. And his Rookie of the Year award was mentioned in passing.
There was no mention of politics here. Sorry, we didn’t hear how great the New Deal was, nor how paternalistic the Republican party was back then.
No religion, except that Rickey liked the fact that both he and Robinson were Methodists.
There was discussion of Satchel Paige not being the first “colored” player in MLB. Quite honestly, at the time, he was getting older (somewhere between 30 and 50, I would guess). Rickey and the Dodgers were looking for younger players that could last a few years at a high level, not a one-year wonder brought in as a publicity stunt.
The only mention of other black players in the ending “where are they now” segment was Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe, who were his first black teammates. In fact, Doby and a few others were already in the league when Campanella and Newcombe arrived in 48 and 49.
The hip-hop crap in the trailers thankfully never made it to the movie itself. Maybe a come-on to the current generation of vidiots who will think, because of the “music” it would be cool to see.
So, gang, it was a good movie, go see it, and forget for just a bit your (and their) political beliefs. Also, if you get MLB Network on your cable, check out this weekend’s edition of “Costas in Studio 42”. He interviewed Newcombe, Harrison Ford and the kid who played Robinson. There were some good back stories in there, from someone who knew the main characters as well as the guys who had to become them. Not to mention some insight into the driving people and reasons it was made.
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