Baseball legend Jackie Robinson's a natural movie subject, with Robinson playing himself in 1950's The Jackie Robinson Story. His most recent biopic, 42 (2013), is so antiseptic and square it could have been made in 1950.Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) shakes Major League Baseball when he signs Negro league player Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) in 1947. Robinson endures distrust from his teammates, mockery from the press and public, struggling to contain his anger publicly. Robinson's fight takes on national dimension, when Pittsburgh Courier journalist Wendell Smith (Andre Holland) promotes him as an icon for black Americans. Fortunately, Robinson's brilliant play justifies his fight.
Writer-director Brian Helgeland approaches 42 with the simplistic earnestness of a children's biography. Inevitably, characters will declare something, then we'll move to the next scene without pondering its significance. Branch Rickey decides to integrate the Dodgers on a whim, with backhanded backstory sketched in later. Nor do the movie's insights on racism bear reflection. Peewee Reese (Lucas Black) putting his arm around Robinson really happened, but did we need a racist kid watching in awe?
42 pits Robinson against all manner of bigots, from crude hoteliers to Phillies manager Ben Chapman (Alan Tudyk)to teammates demanding his ouster. But Robinson never seems human; Helgeland plays up Robinson's naïveté, downplaying the man who defied racists in school and sports, who played football alongside Kerry Washington and Woody Strode at UCLA, who became an articulate sports commentator and civil rights activist. We respect Robinson's Gandhi-like endurance, but we don't understand what motivates him beyond pride and a paycheck.
Chadwick Boseman gives an appealing, if limited performance. It's hard to play a character defined by earnest rectitude, and Boseman works overtime to find humanity behind the icon. Harrison Ford makes a good match for Rickey, and gets by playing his patented gruff jerk routine. Nicole Beharie is sweet, if underused as Robinson's wife. Alan Tudyk makes an easy villain; Christopher Meloni's supportive manager bows out early. John C. McGinley's impression of Red Barber is a highlight.
It feels harsh to criticize 42. It means well, and it's certainly not painful to watch. But it's never very compelling either. We're left with an adolescent history lesson, turning Robinson's struggle against racism into a feel-good movie. But hey, isn't that what sports is about?
