42

"Put the fear of God in em."  (Branch Rickey)
"Hey, Ni**** Ni***** N******" (Ben Chapman -Alan Tudyk)
"I want somebody with a future, not a past." (Branch Rickey)

Much of my own baseball fan career, I've been cheering on losing squads and hoping against tragic hope for a little bit of magic to make better teams eat their words and respect us as consistently dangerous. (MN Twins 1993-2000, KC royals since the retirement of George Brett, and the Hanshin Tigers 2004)  So it was with great empathy that I wanted, nay cheered on, 42 to rise to the occasion and be a better movie for even just a brief shining moment.  But, alas...if the pitcher is a bum, and the infield error-prone: the pace plodding, and the directing stilted, one will have a sub .500 season and purely mediocre movie.

There were some highlights to 42.  Nicole Baharie, for me, established herself as an up'n'coming star in her portrayal of Mrs. Robinson.  I expect to see her in more things.  Harrison Ford proved that he can still bring it in a wonderful portrayal of Branch Rickey.  However, for my tastes, the director and writers spent too much time on Rickey and not enough on what could be the better story of Jackie Robinson's relationship with his teammates.  And finally, Alan Tudyk: way to be truly despicable.  I hope you get more great roles because of your true commitment to your craft and role.

Ratings

Racists:  See it

Method actors:  Skip it

Time-travelers: Skip it

Historians:  Skip it

Baseball aficionados:  See it

On a scale of Hulk Hogan cheating Rick Flair out of the Heavyweight Title to Mr. Rogers cheating a 4 year old out of a nickle, I give 42 3.2 out of 5 stars.