Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Christopher Meloni

Directed by: Brian Helgeland

Today, I decided to go hit the movies for something to do. Since there is currently no movie theater in the Wilton Mall, I’ve been going to a different mall that does have a theater. There’s a couple of good movies out that I wanted to see currently. They were: “Oblivion” w/ Tom Cruise, “The Place Beyond the Pines”, and “42”. So, out of the three choices, I ended up going for the baseball movie, “42”. I wanted to see something real and something serious. So here is my review…

Plot/Synopsis: This tells the life story of professional baseball legend, Jackie Robinson, who is one of the all-time greats. It is set around the time when blacks wasn’t being accepted in this society. It also depicts the MLB signing their first African-American. Thanks to Branch Rickey (played by Ford) who helped make that happen and changed history forever in professional baseball. 

One thing to keep in mind before you go see this film is that this isn’t really a Jackie Robinson biopic film. This film doesn’t depict his entire life. It is set around the time he first signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. I am not much of a baseball fan. I used to be when I was a kid. I used to be obsessed with baseball but gave up watching it over the years. After watching this movie, made me start to appreciate baseball again. They titled this movie, “42” instead of “The Jackie Robinson Movie” for a reason. It’s not just a movie about, Jackie. It’s about changing history in sports. It’s about welcoming black people into the sport of professional baseball.

I was pretty impressed on how this movie was filmed. It was filmed like a historical sports show like you would see on TV. The cinematography was good. The casting was good, and was well-acted by everyone.

Speaking of the casting, I was pretty impressed with the film’s leading star, Chadwick Boseman who played Jackie. Chadwick is an unknown actor who I’ve never heard of, and this film will indeed make him a huge star. Christopher Meloni (former star of “Law and Order: SVU”) had an interesting role. Like usual most of Chris’s roles were short-tempered characters and he had a short-temper kind of character in this film once-again.

I was most impressed with Harrison Ford’s performance, though. His performance is going to grab everyone’s attention. I think Harrison’s performance is Oscar award worthy, for sure. In Harrison’s roles over the years in his career, his acting has always been the same — nothing new — but Harrison’s acting was something different in this film. This film really showcased Harrison’s talent and I know that his acting has been critical by people over the years. Yes, Harrison still plays a grumpy old man in this film but they made him look a lot older. His acting really was something special, and I think he’s got some awards coming his way.

Other than that, this was a very entertaining movie — all the way through. I wasn’t bored a bit, and this film makes me want to watch MLB a lot more. It definitely does have Oscar potential. I loved this film, very much. I thought this was the best baseball movie since Costner’s “Field of Dreams” (which is also my favorite baseball movie). I’m glad I decided to see this film today, and I’m definitely buying the BluRay when it comes out. This film, “42”, can have some different emotions, though. It can go from enjoyable, sad, and funny. Yes, there are some comical scenes in the film to add a bit of humor. It was a pretty amazing film and so far, the best film this year. Two thumbs up.

Kev