42

Name: 42
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Released: April 12, 2013
Duration: 128 min
Rating: 62
Cast: Alan Tudyk, Andre Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Christopher Meloni, Hamish Linklater

2013

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 227 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 227 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: April 12, 2013 | PG-13

Starring: Alan Tudyk, Andre Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Christopher Meloni, Hamish Linklater, Harrison Ford, Lucas Black, Nicole Beharie, Ryan Merriman, T.R. Knight

Summary: The life story of Jackie Robinson and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey.

Director: Brian Helgeland

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, Sport

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 128 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Joe Neumaier

Apr 11, 2013

Boseman is watchful, winning and confident, but never saintly. Yet he keeps Robinson’s moral spine aligned with his skill and self-respect, showing how he needed all of those to succeed. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

Apr 11, 2013

The style of the film, lush and traditional, is nothing special, but the takeaway, a daily struggle for dignity, is impossibly moving. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

Apr 11, 2013

42 may not be a home run, but it’s certainly a solid three-base hit as worthy family entertainment. Read full review

Connie Ogle

Apr 12, 2013

And still 42 persists in entertaining you, even when you’re cringing, because the real story is so compelling. Read full review

The Guardian Mike McCahill

Sep 22, 2014

Boseman hits his key scenes out of the park, making a swell couple with Shame's Nicole Beharie, while Helgeland stages Robinson's signature base-stealing with undeniable aplomb. Read full review

Bilge Ebiri

Apr 12, 2013

Helgeland’s epic about Jackie Robinson’s first year in Major League Baseball is uneven — often exciting, and just as often shallow and ham-handed — but if there’s one thing to which it remains true, it's that the almighty American greenback and the all-American athlete are the great destroyers of bigotry. Read full review

Alan Scherstuhl

Apr 9, 2013

The movie sugars up Robinson's story, and like too many period pieces it summons some vague idea of a warmer, simpler past by bathing everything in thick amber light, as if each scene is one of those preserved mosquitoes that begat the monsters of Jurassic Park. Read full review

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User Reviews

Thegodfatherson

May 16, 2013

The Bottom Line
A too self-consciously inspiring rendition of Jackie Robinson's genuinely inspiring accomplishment of breaking baseball's color barrier.
Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford provide engaging performances as Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch RickeyThe Bottom Line
A too self-consciously inspiring rendition of Jackie Robinson's genuinely inspiring accomplishment of breaking baseball's color barrier.

Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford provide engaging performances as Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey in the Legendary/Warner Bros. drama about the man who broke MLB's color line. Pretty when it should be gritty and grandiosely noble instead of just telling it like it was, 42 needlessly trumps up but still can't entirely spoil one of the great American 20th century true-life stories, the breaking of major league baseball's color line by Jackie Robinson. Whether in the deep South or the streets of Brooklyn, life here looks spiffy and well-scrubbed enough to appear in a department store window, while the soaring musical accompaniment seems to be stamping all the protagonists' passports for immediate admission to that great ballpark in the sky. All the same, lead actors Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford cut through the artifice with engaging performances as Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, respectively, and audiences who don't know much about the first black man to play professional baseball will be suitably impressed. Hit-starved Warner Bros. should be able to stir moderately good attendance domestically, although foreign prospects, as always with baseball yarns, are slight. The key scene in 42, just as it was in the low-budget 1950 The Jackie Robinson Story, which starred the ballplayer himself, comes when Rickey, warning his prospect about the abuse that inevitably awaits him, demands to know if he's “got enough guts not to fight back” when provoked by other players or fans. Robinson was not the best player in the Negro Leagues, but he was reckoned to be the one who might best withstand the trial by fire posed by teammates who didn't want to play with him and a society that often wouldn't allow him to travel, eat or lodge with the rest of the team. Needing a manageable window through which to dramatize a sports breakthrough fraught with racial, social, political and attitudinal meaning, this pet project of writer-director Brian Helgeland and producer Thomas Tull zeroes in on the years 1945-47, concluding with Robinson's first year in the majors. Although there is quick mention of a sports career at UCLA (which, the film does not note, had the most integrated sports program of any school in the U.S. at the time) and a quick temper that earned him an Army court-martial, the 26-year-old member of the American Negro League Kansas City Monarchs seems like the picture of rectitude, a well-spoken young man with a lovely wife-to-be, Rachel (Nicole Beharie), and none of the wild traits of some of his teammates. As one of the last century's most inspiring and literally game-changing personal sagas, Jackie Robinson's life can hardly help but be stirring and will no doubt impress many younger viewers, some of whom may be completely unfamiliar with his story. It's just too bad that Helgeland can't go for broke and get his uniform as dirty as Jackie Robinson used to do.… Expand

3 of 6 users found this helpful33

Berserker1

May 3, 2013

I enjoyed it. It stays true to the facts and doesn't try to go above and beyond by making things up to get cheers from "critics." A fan of baseball history will enjoy this. Someone looking for a movie thrill may not. It's not subject matter that needs be fluffed up like Remember the Titans was.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TheRavingTimes

Apr 23, 2013

42 is an amazing movie that highlights not just Jackie Robinson's early uprising but also Robison's struggles against segregation and racism that destroyed America from the inside. The movie has intense baseball scenes (you may struggle to figure out whether it's an obvious scene or not from42 is an amazing movie that highlights not just Jackie Robinson's early uprising but also Robison's struggles against segregation and racism that destroyed America from the inside. The movie has intense baseball scenes (you may struggle to figure out whether it's an obvious scene or not from the scene's stiffness) which is tied with some plot related aspects. Though Chadwick Boseman created a colourful (no pun or poor taste in humour intended) and deep character, Harrison Ford steals the show with his persuasive exertion during some of the more tense scenes. Though the movie's setting doesn't really capture the late 1940's setting outside of the segregation laws and cruelty towards African Americans, 42 is a must see movie that will fulfil not just any MLB fan's desire to see a movie about baseball, segregation, and the upbringing of a talented man, but also for many movie fanatics ...
(Minor Spoiler Warning)
Unless you're a resident of Pittsburgh.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Movie1997

Apr 12, 2013

I honestly thought that it was going to be some boring biopic, but boy was I wrong. It was really an engaging and heart felt story on racism and being accepted. It also had some great acting, especially from Chadwick Boseman. He really gives an unexpectedly terrific performance. Plus theI honestly thought that it was going to be some boring biopic, but boy was I wrong. It was really an engaging and heart felt story on racism and being accepted. It also had some great acting, especially from Chadwick Boseman. He really gives an unexpectedly terrific performance. Plus the storytelling is great and keeps you interested. This is a great movie that helps kick off a year of potentially great movies. Overall, this is one great biopic of an American legend.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

oblique15

Feb 10, 2014

I thought this would go to the top of the sports movies, but I have to say I was wrong. It`s great cause it`s a true story, but it lacked what other great sport movies have.I did like Harrison Ford, and the movie was good overall, but nothing great.I agree with people who say it had a TVI thought this would go to the top of the sports movies, but I have to say I was wrong. It`s great cause it`s a true story, but it lacked what other great sport movies have.I did like Harrison Ford, and the movie was good overall, but nothing great.I agree with people who say it had a TV movie feeling.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

fc2013

May 12, 2013

"42" is almost a word by word scripted remake of the 1950 film featuring Jackie Robinson named "The Jackie Robinson Story". This said, I enjoyed this effort as the two main leads give good performances and the film is uplifting and provides some history about the culture of the time that"42" is almost a word by word scripted remake of the 1950 film featuring Jackie Robinson named "The Jackie Robinson Story". This said, I enjoyed this effort as the two main leads give good performances and the film is uplifting and provides some history about the culture of the time that many young people may not be informed on. As far as coming out knowing more about Jackie the man and his life and his endeavors outside the baseball field well you won't get much if anything of that from this feel good kind of film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

KarenAllenFan

Aug 14, 2013

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Everyone thinks this is a good baseball movie, but aside from the lead actor, there is nothing I like about this movie! Granted the story is about a great baseball player, the acting absolutely SUCKS! Not even Indiana Jones can save this horrible atrocity of a movie! Mind you, this is just what I got from the PREVIEWS! Don't even waste your $10 on this DVD! Glad I didn't purchase it, or I'd ask 4 my damn money back!… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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79	#79 Most Discussed Movie of 2013
71	#71 Most Shared Movie of 2013