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mrsl
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- 42 -

Post by mrsl »

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I'm not a big baseball fan but I do like sports movies like Brian's Song, Bull Durham, etc., and biographical films like Jim Thorpe, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, etc. This movie however, really grabbed me. I've seen it twice now because the first time I missed the first half hour and checked it out, but continued watching until the end. I had hoped they had gone back more into his childhood, but not. So, I googled him but still didn't find much. I wanted to try to see where he gained his strength of character and the strength to go on in spite of the horrible garbage that was verbally thrown at him, not to mention the head shots from various pitchers. Not only did I like the story of Robinson's rise from farm team to the Brooklyn Dodgers (I still think of the Dodgers as "Brooklyn" not L.A.), but I liked Chadwick Boseman as Jackie, Nicole Beharie as Rachel, and Andre Holland as Wendell Smith. I sensed real chemistry between all three of them as friends, and between Boseman and Beharie as a couple.

Harrison Ford was great as Branch Rickey. My memory is vague, but I recall seeing Rickey on the news and Ford's mannerisms and way of talking seemed to be right on. Although Christopher Meloni was good in the role of Leo Durocher, I couldn't quite accept him. I just kept seeing him as Elliot. If this is what he left SVU for, he made a mistake. I believe if he kept his toupee on instead of trying to change his appearance so drastically, he may have been more creditable, this way he seemed to be hiding.

It was fun to see little George (T.R. Knight), from Greys Anatomy, as well as Richard (or I should say James Pickens).

Although as an old white lady I still idolize guys like Gayle Sayers, Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, and Ernie Banks, I can't help being curious how this film was accepted by our black population. I was mortified at the vicious and filthy things that were said, and I can't believe that some of the people in the stands didn't boo that one guy down when he was yelling his garbage out. It's hard to believe that after the war, when men had been living side by side for up to 4 years, there weren't some decent citizens in that crowd. Much of the activity in this movie made me cringe a lot more than seeing Bing Crosby in black face in Holiday Inn, although that was an eye opener when I finally got to the age of reason and understanding.

Does anyone have any feedback?
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Anne


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Rita Hayworth
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Re: - 42 -

Post by Rita Hayworth »

mrsl wrote:.
Not only did I like the story of Robinson's rise from farm team to the Brooklyn Dodgers (I still think of the Dodgers as "Brooklyn" not L.A.), but I liked Chadwick Boseman as Jackie, Nicole Beharie as Rachel, and Andre Holland as Wendell Smith. I sensed real chemistry between all three of them as friends, and between Boseman and Beharie as a couple.

Harrison Ford was great as Branch Rickey. My memory is vague, but I recall seeing Rickey on the news and Ford's mannerisms and way of talking seemed to be right on. Although Christopher Meloni was good in the role of Leo Durocher, I couldn't quite accept him. I just kept seeing him as Elliot. If this is what he left SVU for, he made a mistake. I believe if he kept his toupee on instead of trying to change his appearance so drastically, he may have been more creditable, this way he seemed to be hiding.

It was fun to see little George (T.R. Knight), from Greys Anatomy, as well as Richard (or I should say James Pickens).

Does anyone have any feedback?
.

Anne, my Brother who is a huge baseball fan consider 42 the best baseball movie ever made in recent history and he was stunned by the performance of Chadwick Boseman, Andre Holland, and James Pickens in this movie. I saw this movie with him and was surprised to see Harrison Ford was superb as Branch Rickey and my dear brother told me that he did a masterful job and fabulous in that role. According to my dear brother who is a big HARRISON FORD fan - did research on Branch Rickey and Ford tried his best to accommodate all aspects of his personality on screen that Rickey Family was stunned by his performance as well and told FORD that you were FANTASTIC.

I'm very impressed by this film and I wanted to share that with you today.
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Vienna
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Re: - 42 -

Post by Vienna »

I'm from the UK and don't know baseball but I thought 42 was excellent. The story of prejudice is never out of date. Great cast.
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Professional Tourist
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Re: - 42 -

Post by Professional Tourist »

Mrsl, I want to thank you for bringing this film to my attention -- it was released last spring but I had not heard of it at all. I got a copy and watched tonight. This one is definitely a keeper for me, very good. I don't know how true-to-life is the story, and how much is artistic license, but I must admit that I had no prior concrete understanding of how difficult it was to be the first black american in major league baseball. I was surprised by some of the abuse Mr. Robinson took, not just in denial of public services, but personal verbal and physical abuse including on the ball field. The profuse heckling he took while at bat, from an opposing team's manager, was stunning in its hatred. It's difficult to imagine that such a tirade would have been permitted to go on even twenty years later -- an umpire or some other authority figure surely would have stopped it.

In addition to the interesting story and characters there are several good performances. Harrison Ford as the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers showed that he's not just a pretty face. He may have outgrown his romantic and action-adventure leads but he plays a character part just fine. I hope we'll see more of him in character roles. Chadwick Boseman gave what I think would be considered an understated performance as Jackie Robinson, which was the right approach considering how much Mr. Robinson had to take on the chin. And he was technically brilliant at impersonating a baseball player -- the way he swung a bat and stole bases made me feel as though I were watching the real Jackie Robinson play. But I suppose the director (Brian Helgeland) had something to do with that too. :wink: A quick check of Helgeland's IMDb page shows he is more experienced as a screen writer ("Mystic River") than as director, but I'd like to see more pictures from him.

42 is not just a good baseball movie. It's a good movie.
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Lzcutter
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Re: - 42 -

Post by Lzcutter »

Anne,

MrCutter and i missed seeing 42 in the theaters last year so when it started making the rounds of HBO, we decided to check it out. It's a terrific film. It was a terrific reminder of how prejudices can limit our ability to see people as they really are and only view them stereotypical lens. It's also a terrific reminder (and one that I think is very apropos for today) of the struggles that others have had to go through (and in some ways, still going through those struggles) to gain acceptance in the eyes of others who don't want to believe in basic equality for all.

Harrison Ford was just terrific as Branch Rickey and really should have been nominated for a Best Supporting nod. He is definitely signalling his willingness to move into more character roles and his ability to be very, very good in them. He has always been more than just the rugged hero that he so often played in his younger days, so seeing him take this path at this time in his career is heartening. Here's hoping that he gets many more roles like this in the years ahead.

Chadwick Boseman and the rest of the cast were also terrific. As I understand it, the screenwriter did take some liberties with the storyline about Leo Durocher (Christopher Meloni) but it certainly didn't distract from the movie.
Lynn in Lake Balboa

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"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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