42

42 (2013) covers Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, becoming the first Black player to break the colour line in the modern era of American baseball. It plays less like a sports film than a test of endurance; the subject is not the games but not answering back to the abuse from the stands and from his own teammates. The bargain at the centre is exactly that. Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey picks him on one condition: he will not retaliate. Robinson holding his anger is the film's main tension. Brian Helgeland wrote and directed. Chadwick Boseman plays Robinson and Harrison Ford plays Rickey. Boseman was largely unknown at the time and this was his breakthrough. The harshest scene is the racist barrage from the Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman at the edge of the field, and it is based on the historical record. Robinson's number 42 was retired across every team in Major League Baseball in 1997, the only number retired league wide. It runs 128 minutes. Good for: adaptations of true events, sports history, and Chadwick Boseman. Less good for: the film tells Robinson's story largely through Rickey's decision and the white executive's role is oversized. Robinson's later political life is absent. The racism scenes are heavy and repetitive.