GREAT
COURAGE AND DRIVE
Here's your trivia question for today: Why, on or about
April 15 of each year, do major league baseball players all wear jerseys with
the number 42?
Answer: Jackie Robinson's number was 42, and he made his
major league debut on April 15, 1947.
If you've heard ads about the movie 42 but weren't sure what
the title referred to, now you know. Many of us have at least a general idea
about Jackie Robinson being the first black player in the Major Leagues, but not
that many of us know how incredibly brave Robinson was to go through this experience –
and how his efforts, in their own way, changed things in America.
The year is 1945. World War II is over, and freedom has
been won for people all around the world. For some In the U. S., however,
freedom is still elusive, for racism is alive and well. Blacks, in particular,
face intense prejudice and discrimination, having to use separate toilets, eat
in specified restaurants, stay only in certain hotels, and endure abuse – and
not just in the South. Enter Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Rickey tells his assistants he has a plan: He's going to bring the first black
player into major league baseball by putting him on his own team. Rickey says,
"I don't know who he is or where he is, but he's coming." His
assistants are skeptical, but Rickey is undaunted.
By 1946 Rickey has found his man: Jack Robinson of the
Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues. Rickey tells his assistants what
he's going to do: put Jackie Robinson on the roster of the Montreal Royals, one
of the high-level farm teams of the Dodgers. His men are still skeptical and
try to dissuade Rickey from taking this action by outlining the opposition and
criticism, even hatred, that he will face from much of the rest of baseball.
Steadfast, Rickey says, "Jackie Robinson is a Methodist. I'm a Methodist.
God is a Methodist. It's the right thing to do."
Jackie is such a success in Montreal that Branch
Rickey decides 1947 is the year when he will be brought up to Brooklyn – but
when Robinson does join the team, things start to get really difficult. Rickey tells
Robinson he's got to have the courage not to retaliate when he suffers abuse,
for if he retaliates, he will be sinking to their level. Robinson says, "You
want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?" Rickey responds,
"I want a player who's got the guts not
to fight back. Remember our Savior and what He said about turning the other cheek."
Robinson answers, "You give me a uniform, you give me a number on my back,
and I'll give you the guts."
Guts are indeed what it takes. Many of the players on the
Dodgers don't want to play with Robinson on the team. Rickey threatens to trade
them – and does trade some of them. Jackie endures all kinds of abuse, ranging
from extremely mean verbal attacks to death threats to physical abuse when
opposing pitchers throw at his head. One racist opponent says, "A Negro
player on the team? This isn't the America I know." A key moment occurs
when the Dodgers play their first game with the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati is
just across the river from Kentucky, where Dodger shortstop Peewee Reese is
from. Peewee will have a lot of family from his home in border state Kentucky
at the game in Cincinnati. At first he is reluctant, even afraid, to play because
of what his family might think – but in a conversation with Jackie he regains
his composure, walks over to Robinson on the field, and puts his arm around him
-- a highly significant gesture coming from a player so revered in baseball –
and it might be considered a breakthrough for the beginning of Jackie's
acceptance.
Those of us who are baseball fans know the outcome of
Jackie's struggle: He makes it in Brooklyn and sets in motion a process that
changes baseball forever. The tension of the picture, however, is such that
we're worried that Jackie won't make it. That sort of tension is one of the
marks of a well-made film. The only negatives are a few unfortunate instances
of taking the Lord's name in vain, along with one s-word and some other
crudities.
Bottom
Line: 42 is very much worth your time,
money, and effort. It's exciting, it's touching, it's reverent, and it's
inspirational. Relative newcomer Chadwick Boseman does an impressive job in the
role of Jackie Robinson, as do Nicole Beharie and Andre Holland in their roles, respectively, as Jackie's wife Rachel and Wendell Smith, a black sportswriter who also has something to show
the world. But the picture really belongs to Harrison Ford in the role of
Branch Rickey – perhaps Ford's best performance in a movie, and that's saying
something.
Film
Rating: PG-13
My
Rating: 3 ¼ stars
