Bookshelf review: 42

April 25, 2013

https://i1.wp.com/www.impawards.com/2013/posters/forty_two_ver3.jpg?resize=311%2C453This will be relatively short (and hopefully sweet?), since there’s not much I can add to the dozens of critiques previously offered on the new Jackie Robinson biopic.

Although I had read just about everything I could find on the film, I still believe I went in with an open mind. I am predisposed to like any baseball film (with a few notable exceptions, such as The Yankles, which has to rank among the worst movies ever made). Comments that kept coming up included the historical inaccuracy and liberties taken to make it a better story. Like it wasn’t already impressive enough? Did the producers feel the truth would be a bit boring? You can get away with a lot with the caveat “based on a true story.”

The first time I saw a photo of Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, I thought, “He looks ridiculous.” That’s the problem with stills excised https://i2.wp.com/0.tqn.com/d/movies/1/0/I/e/Z/42-harrison-ford.jpg?resize=240%2C160from the action; you have to be so careful because a second in either temporal direction can make an immense difference. But I put that aside when I saw Ford’s interpretation. I’m surprised not to have heard or seen  anything about possible supporting actor Oscar consideration.

Chadwick Boseman, although noble, struck me as a bit stuff, but then, wouldn’t the real Robinson have been guarded as well? In that regard, Boseman came off quite well, although I maintain the physical resemblance is not that close: the actor seemed more “buff” than the real Robinson, whose pictures make him seem a bit more stocky.

Of all the other actors, I found Chris Meloni (of the Law and Order franchise fame) as Leo Durocher most believable, down to the chewing out he gave the Dodgers during the spring training petition fiasco. Another pleasant surprise: John McGinley (Scrubs, etc.) as legendary Dodger broadcaster Red Barber, a  southerner who in real life considered quitting rather than call games that featured a black man on the field, although that’s not brought up in the movie (hey, there’s only so much time, and it was already over two hours). Barber’s signature home-spun language is still charming, but seems a bit forced these days for much more “sophisticated” audiences.

https://i1.wp.com/www.dailyactor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Alan-Tudyk-42.jpg?resize=215%2C180Also outstanding, if it’s acceptable to deem such a noxious character in that regard: Alan Tudyk as virulent racist Ben Chapman, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, who came out of the dugout for Robinson’s at bats to heap abuse.

An aside: I frequently wonder about the “separation” of the actor and his role. For example: the HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers, included a powerful segment in which American forces discovered a concentration camp, unable to fathom what it was. The skeletal actors portraying inmates were heartbreakingly realistic, but you know there’s a time when the director yells “Cut!” What do they do on their break, still wearing the striped uniforms. Do they joke with the other cast and crew? Or do they remain in some reverential state, knowing who and what they are representing?

It’s the same thing with the actors who yell the N-word throughout 42. Do they feel at all sheepish about it or is it just a job for them? And what of the African-American actors and crew members? How do they feel as the ersatz recipients of such hatred?

Anyway, back to business:

Less believable were two child actors who played, respectively, a young Ed Charles and a white fan who accompanies his father to the game in Cincinnati where he “learns” to be a racist. You can tell his heart isn’t really in it, however, especially after the very protracted scene (hey, ump, can we move the game along?) in which Pee Wee Reese drapes his arm across Robinson’s shoulder in a gesture of solidarity. By the way, according to many sources, that never actually happened either, stories and statues depicting the event to the contrary. If it did happen, wouldn’t some newspaper photographer have snapped a picture, as the standard methods of the day would have them down on the field during the game?

https://i1.wp.com/filmonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/42-movie.jpg?resize=486%2C214

Some of the one-line characters were stock villains or good guys, such as the white man who approaches Robinson and his wife, seemingly with menace on his mind, only to tell the ballplayer to hang in because there are a lot of people rooting for him, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding.

http://chaddarnell.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341cb36153ef017c389db871970b-500wiYes, the music was this-is what-you-should-be-feeling over the top. I also found the CGI a bit distracting in, as if I was watching a giant video game. Robinson’s beaning by Pirates hurler Fritz Ostermueller (whose stark square features and penetrating eyes would make him a perfect movie Nazi) with no lingering effects was a bit hard to believe. And really, a home run in a later game off the same pitcher? Standing at the plate and staring (did anyone, white or black dare to do that in those days?) and running the bases in slow motion? It doesn’t get any more cliche.

But having said all that, despite the picayune comments about accuracy, despite all the production flaws, the real proof is in the reaction of the audience. At the screening I attended it was pretty adamant in their response: laud applause when the credits rolled, facts be damned.

https://i1.wp.com/weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/42-movie-summed-up-meme.jpg?resize=520%2C305

 

0Shares

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post:

script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-5496371-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();