Funrahi Movie Reviews

42

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes (128 minutes)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including language.

Genres: Biography, Drama, Sport

Inspiring,

Entertaining

And

Intelligent.

3 out of 5

42 Review

What's Good:
Inspiring moments and storytelling.
What's Bad:
Few parts and Some misses about Jackie Robinson's actual life.
Verdict:
This story inspires and entertains with a vital chapter in American history. It's a valuable history lesson, an intelligent drama that hits all the right emotional buttons, and an inspiring portrait of a true American hero.
Watch or Not:
Definitely watch it!

Audience Ratings for 42

50.0%
261 Ratings
1 2 3 4 5
hate it don't like it it's ok it's good it's great

Plot Summary

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures are teaming up with director Brian Helgeland for "42," the powerful story of Jackie Robinson, the legendary baseball player who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier when he joined the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers. "42" will star Academy Award(R) nominee Harrison Ford ("Witness") as the innovative Dodger's general manager Branch Rickey, the MLB executive who first signed Robinson to the minors and then helped to bring him up to the show, and Chadwick Boseman ("The Express") as Robinson, the heroic African American who was the first man to break the color line in the big leagues.

Critics Reviews for 42

70 Critics like this movie.
Reviews Counted: 37 | Positive Review: 26 | Negative Review: 11 | Average Rating: 3.5/5

"This is a competent but mostly unexceptional film about a most extraordinary man."
Critic Score: 3/5

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper.com

This story inspires and entertains with a vital chapter in this nation's history.

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

The filmmaking is TV-movie-of-the-week dull and Robinson's ordeal is hammered home to the exclusion of virtually everything else in his life.
Critic Score: C-

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

"A kind and decent film, though it doesn't add to Robinson's legacy."
Critic Score: 7.5/10

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Laremy Legel
Laremy Legel
Film.com

[Boseman] captures, in a clenched jaw or a sidelong glance, a lifetime's worth of dearly attained dignity and barely contained rage.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

In the hallowed frames of 42, the legend is front and centre and still inspiring. Too bad the more interesting man is nowhere to be seen.
Critic Score: 2.5/4

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail

If anybody deserves to be portrayed as noble, it's Jackie Robinson.
Critic Score: B

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

An inspiring, old-school biopic that doesn't pull any punches in depicting the ugly racism that Jackie Robinson faced on a daily basis as the first African-American player in Major League Baseball.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post

A stirring, straightforward and ultimately soaring portrayal of Robinson's historic entry into Major League Baseball in 1947.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 12, 2013 Full Review
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

The beauty of the Jackie Robinson story is that it's so naturally inspiring that not even lethal amounts of bombast, sentimental writing, soaring strings, hammy acting or desperate hyperbole can tarnish it beyond repair.
Critic Score: 2.5/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

By burnishing Jackie Robinson's legend to such an unnaturally high polish, 42 does Robinson the man (and the actor who plays him, the relative newcomer Chadwick Boseman) a disservice.

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
Slate

Robinson's story had so much drama in real life, and his sacrifice and pain made such a lasting influence, that "42" ends up being effective in its gee-whiz way almost in spite of itself.
Critic Score: 3/5

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times

42 escapes the trappings of sheer hero worship largely thanks to Boseman, whose relative anonymity eliminates any potential star baggage. More than that, he strikes a tough balance.
Critic Score: B

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Chris Vognar
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News

Mr. Helgeland's ponderously reverential biopic is a string of unearned runs.

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal

It's a great and triumphant story, and writer and director Brian Helgeland (an Oscar winner for his L.A. Confidential screenplay) brings it to life in burnished, old-fashioned Hollywood style.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

Though not accurate in every particular, the movie mostly succeeds in respecting the facts of history and the personality of its hero, and in reminding audiences why he mattered.
Critic Score: 3/5

April 11, 2013 Full Review
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times

Well-paced and often riveting, and manages to inspire while remaining true to the sport and to the player who changed it and all of professional sport forever.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Bruce Demara
Toronto Star

There's not enough of Robinson's back story to convey the full drama of his place in history.
Critic Score: 2.5/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

Shameless, sure. But effective.

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR

Ironically, the most valuable player here is Harrison Ford, giving one of the best performances of his career as Brooklyn Dodgers manager Branch Rickey.

April 11, 2013 Full Review
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

It's a valuable history lesson, an intelligent drama that hits all the right emotional buttons, and an inspiring portrait of a true American hero.
Critic Score: 3.5/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's worth seeing because the film is competently presented and the story is inherently important, but I couldn't help be disappointed that the result wasn't more fresh or visionary.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

A likable hagiography as nuanced as a plaque at the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Alan Scherstuhl
Village Voice

It's a sports film nonsports fans can love; it's a family film that never preaches; it's a biopic that also takes in the world and people around its subject.
Critic Score: 5/5

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News

"42" settles for too little, for being an attractive primer, an introduction to the legend of Robinson and the faith that saw him through.
Critic Score: 2.5/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

If you want a crowd-pleaser that confirms your belief in America's steady, pre-ordained progression away from racism, this will do fine.
Critic Score: 2.5/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

"42" can feel incomplete (the bland music and the filmmaker's obsession with dates and places are problematic), yet at the same time it offers a very good place to start.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
John Hartl
Seattle Times

Helgeland has given us an impressive introduction to one of the most important men in U.S. history. But you can't help wanting more.
Critic Score: 3.5/5

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

There are many less flattering things you could say about a movie than that it's enjoyable in a square, uncomplicated, stirringly old-fashioned way.
Critic Score: B+

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

"42" is competent, occasionally rousing and historically respectful - but it rarely rises above standard, old-fashioned biography fare. It's a mostly unexceptional film about an exceptional man.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 11, 2013 Full Review
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times

This big-budget period piece is more concerned with burnishing a legend than dramatizing a life.
Critic Score: 2.5/4

April 10, 2013 Full Review
Rafer Guzman
Rafer Guzman
Newsday

At the top of a new baseball season, it's hard not to root for a movie that's in it for the love of the game.
Critic Score: 2.5/4

April 10, 2013 Full Review
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

If you want a sense of a true all-American hero, this film is a fine place to start.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 10, 2013 Full Review
Charlie McCollum
San Jose Mercury News

With 42, [Helgeland] expands his skills to turn a mountain of research into a cogent life story worth retelling.
Critic Score: 3/4

April 10, 2013 Full Review
Rex Reed
New York Observer

For all the hate and hostility it depicts, 42 is a film about decent-hearted people. Hate can be infectious, but so can decency. It's the decency you'll take away from 42.

April 10, 2013 Full Review
David Germain
Associated Press

Rather than letting its hero's accomplishments and behavior speak for themselves, Helgeland hammers home every achievement and then puts a halo around it, as if anyone won't get it otherwise.

April 10, 2013 Full Review
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Hollywood Reporter

A relentlessly formulaic biopic that succeeds at transforming one of the most compelling sports narratives of the 20th century into a home run of hagiography.

April 10, 2013 Full Review
Scott Foundas
Variety

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