42

Director: Brian Helgeland Brian Helgeland

Overview

Brian Helgeland's historical sports drama/biopic 42 relates the historic 1947 baseball season in which Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) decides to sign the first black Major League player, Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman). Although Robinson faces ugly, vicious racism from other clubs, fans, and on occasion his own teammates, Rickey encourages him to not fight back. By following that advice, Robinson allows his remarkable athletic talent to speak for itself, and soon the first-year player becomes one the most popular players on the team, eventually securing the Rookie of the Year award. Christopher Meloni and Hamish Linklater co-star.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/16/2013
UPC:	0883929316526
Original Release:	2013
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:08:00
Sales rank:	11,781

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Chadwick Boseman	Jackie Robinson
Harrison Ford	Branch Rickey
Nicole Beharie	Rachel Robinson
Christopher Meloni	Leo Durocher
Ryan Merriman	Dixie Walker
Lucas Black	Pee Wee Reese
Andre Holland	Wendell Smith
Hamish Linklater	Ralph Branca
Alan Tudyk	Ben Chapman
T.R. Knight	Harold Parrott,Carl Furillo
John C. McGinley	Red Barber
Toby Huss	Clyde Sukeforth
Max Gail	Burt Shotton
Brad Beyer	Kirby Higbe
James Pickens Jr.	Mr. Brock
Gino Anthony Pesi	Joe Garagiola
Brett Cullen	Clay Hopper
Jesse Luken	Eddie Stanky
Jamey Holliday	Pete Reiser
Derek Phillips	Bobby Bragan
Jamie Ruehling	Spider Jorgensen
Blake Sanders	Gene Hermanski
Clint O'Brien	Hugh Casey
Dusan Brown	Ed Charles
Cherise Boothe	Ed's Mother
Friedel Pinkston	Birmingham Catcher
Linc Hand	Fritz Ostermueller
Thomas Helgeland	Everett McCooey
Matt Clark	Luther
Peter Mackenzie	Happy Chandler
Joe Inscoe	Bob Cooke
Karole Foreman	Duff Harris
Monnae Michaell	Mallie
C.J. Nitkowski	Dutch Leonard
Scott Callaway	Andy Seminick
Aaron Farb	Phillie Two
James Rackley	Phillie One
Anthony Goolsby	Monarch Batter
Lou Criscuolo	Reporter One
Ross Hughes	Reporter Two
Joe Knezevich	Reporter Three
Mark Harelik	Herb Pennock
Kenny Cook	Fan One
Rhoda Griffis	Miss Bishop
Dan Fenlan	Babe Hamburger
Maury Covington	Policeman
Henry Friedman	Freckles
Jon Kohler	Spectator Two
Marc Gowan	Doctor
Jackson Walker	Jimmy Powers
Danny Vinson	Eddie Dyer
Ari Blinder	Photographer
William Flaman	Cracker
David Sweeney	Fan Two
Denise Moye	Older Woman
Peter Jurasik	Hotel Manager
Dan Mengini	Spectator One
Michael H. Cole	Another Reporter
Janet Metzger	Jane Ann
Holden Hansen	Freckle's Dad
Dax Griffin	Racist City Island Fan
Jayson Warner Smith	White Gas Station Attendant
Jeremy Taylor	Boy
Christopher Harvey	Bus Driver
Kelley Alice Jakle	Alice
Jud Tylor	Laraine Day
Tobias Michael Finn	Panamanian Kid
Ercell Grimes	Shouting Fan
Dwight Houser	City Island Umpire
Barry Suttle	Roosevelt Home Umpire
Andrew B. Roberts	Ball One Umpire
Jimmie L. Coleman	Negro League Umpire
Steve Hicks	Umpire One
Wayne Hickey	Umpire Two
Andrew Mullins	Umpire Three
Dennis A. Spears	Umpire Four
Gary Miller	Umpire Five
David Thoms	Enos Slaughter
Richard Tavernaro	Deland Umpire
Hunter Clowdus	Dodger Bat Boy
Todd Wilson	Reporter Four
Mark Isham	Composer

Technical Credits

Brian Helgeland

Brian Helgeland	Screenwriter,Director
Thomas Tull	Producer
Jon Jashni	Executive Producer
Dick Cook	Executive Producer
Allan Graf	Executive Producer
Jason Clark	Executive Producer
Victoria Thomas	Casting
Yann Delpeuch	Sound Effects
Shaughnessy Hare	Sound Effects
Jeff Wexler	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

Jackie Robinson is arguably the single most important sports figure of the 20th century. He personified athletic excellence, and became the catalyst for massive social change when Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager, made the former UCLA standout the first black player in Major League Baseball. He endured taunts and threats from fans, sportswriters, opponents, and teammates, handling all of it with the kind of public self-control that would become the hallmark of Martin Luther King's approach to the civil-rights movement. That's the kind of life that not only should and does inspire millions of people, it's also the stuff of traditionally earnest and dry biopics -- the kind that win Oscars but aren't remembered with much affection by hardcore movie lovers or general audiences. Thankfully, 42, writer/director Brian Helgeland's telling of this remarkable story, manages to paint Robinson as a nearly flawless icon without turning him into a boring wax figure. He's helped immeasurably by Chadwick Boseman's performance as Robinson. He not only comes off as credible in the baseball scenes, but Boseman's Jackie has an engagingly unsettled look in his eyes most of the time. When he's not on the field or with his wife, he's on guard, and in those moments we get a feeling for how deep the brutal insults and unfair treatment hit him. As different characters say throughout the movie, Jackie just wants to play ball, and when he's on the field, Boseman makes Jackie's intensity a kick; his side-to-side hop as he takes a bigger and bigger lead before stealing a base is a comic dance of athletic superiority. Boseman gets superb support from Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, who gets most of the laugh lines Helgeland weds into the script. This is probably the best outlet Ford has ever found for his earnest side -- an aspect of his persona that he often indulges to less interesting effect than his darker-tinged performances in movies like The Mosquito Coast and Blade Runner. Here, Rickey's religious conviction, his quiet insistence that the Dodgers will sign a black player, and the palpable sympathy he feels for what Jackie endures -- combined with his sense of humor -- give Ford the richest character he's played in more than 20 years. If this film came out later in the year, he'd be in the running for awards. The supporting cast are just as impressive as the two leads. Christopher Meloni is so good as headstrong Dodgers manager Leo Durocher (a sports figure also worthy of a first-rate, gritty biopic) that we're genuinely bummed when his character leaves the movie early; Nicole Beharie, playing Jackie's wife, makes sure her character is never less than noble or more than human; Lucas Black gets a fine scene as the Southern shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who becomes Robinson's unexpected ally; you wish Hamish Linklater had more to do as pitcher Ralph Branca; Alan Tudyk is memorably scummy as a virulently racist opposing manager; and John C. McGinley does such a witty impression of broadcaster Red Barber that it's a shame he doesn't narrate the whole movie. As a writer, Helgeland (who has an Oscar for co-writing another period piece, L.A. Confidential) knows how to give all of his actors just enough material to keep them interesting, while never removing his focus from Robinson and Rickey. Helgeland does efficient work here as a director. There aren't that many show-offy moments, but he does go for a heavy-handed final montage depicting Jackie being safe at home both on the field and in his wife's arms. However, he did hire talented cinematographer Don Burgess as his DP, and together they give the film a look that casts everything in a warmly nostalgic golden hue while consistently flattering actors with very different skin tones by expertly lighting them within the same shot. Spike Lee tried for many years to get a biopic of Jackie Robinson made, and while he certainly wouldn't have come up with this combination of Gandhi and The Natural plus some good laughs, his movie most likely wouldn't have been quite as obvious. Helgeland's film is square, but it's a really solidly built square -- the kind of square that can be used as a foundation for something sturdy and true.