42!!!

So, I saw 42 today and it was great! For those of you who don't know, 42 is the story of Jackie Robinson entering Major League Baseball. He was originally playing for the Kansas City Monarchs when Brooklyn Dodger's Branch Rickey sent one of his agents to go scout out Robinson. Robinson was sent to Montreal to train with the triple A team affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In his first games with Montreal, he played so well that he was pulled up to the Dodgers before Brooklyn's opening day. The Dodgers then went to spring training in Panama City, Panama in order to help Robinson avoid the attack of the white Dodgers fans and the media. The story then continues with Robinson's entire first season in Major League Baseball, including the extreme attacks he went through, for instance, being thrown at or verbally attacked.

In addition to his life on the baseball field, you also see his life off the baseball field with his wife Rachel. The couple gets married at the beginning of the film after Robinson gets the call from the Dodgers and Rachel becomes extremely supportive right away. After the film, when they explain what all the players did after the 1947 season, you find out that Rachel Robinson actually started a foundation in Jackie Robinson's name. It is now used to provide high school seniors scholarships to go onto college. The movie provided a really great sense of how dedicated 'Rae' was to her husband and son.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie both for the premise, acting, and CGI. I am a huge baseball fan, so this movie was a perfect fit for me, but I highly recommend it to everyone. It is more than just a story about baseball, but a story of the difficulties that the African American population faced during the '40s. The movie did a great job of conveying the hardships of the black population because you truly hurt for the Robinson family. Harrison Ford who played Branch Ricky played a great part in the story. At first, he seems driven by money, but in the end, he shows his true dedication to changing Robinson's life and to baseball. Also, Chadwick Boseman who played the part of Jackie Robinson seemed to be the true Jackie Robinson in the film. He acted as the tough Jackie Robinson many knew, but we also see a more emotional side of him when he is facing the attacks, especially on the baseball field. Finally the CGI used for the baseball stadiums was very impressive. They recreated four baseball parks from the 1940s and did a great job. They looked incredible and provided a '40s feel to the movie that I though going into the movie would be difficult to do.