42 -- April 2013

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