O/T: Saw "42" tonight and loved it...

[Tcards-Please]

I saw it with the wife last night. Although I enjoyed the movie, I wish there was a little more emphasis on his playing days.

r/
Frank

[johnmh71]

+1 - Fantastic film.

[jimhopkins82]

Hey, saw it last night. Thought it was pretty good, not great. The actor that played Ben Chapman is a favorite of mine and that really distracted me. Very different character from what he usually plays.

[GehrigFan]

Like many others, I saw 42 last night, and brought two friends and even my wife, and everyone enjoyed it. One guy already asked if we could go again.

I was hoping for a little more on his playing days in the Negro Leagues, but I understand that would have been a rabbit trail from the point of the movie, which was his integration into baseball.

One question, I was left unsure of Branch Rickey - what is commonly believed to be the reason he made the decision to integrate? Was it money, love of the game, a chance to leave a lasting impression on the game, truly a desire to de-segregate, etc.? The movie made him out to be a really good guy but I don't know what the real Rickey was like.

[Gmrson]

Originally Posted by GehrigFan

One question, I was left unsure of Branch Rickey - what is commonly believed to be the reason he made the decision to integrate? Was it money, love of the game, a chance to leave a lasting impression on the game, truly a desire to de-segregate, etc.? The movie made him out to be a really good guy but I don't know what the real Rickey was like.

There is a story in Ken Burns Baseball that when he was a college coach (Ohio Wesleyan?) he was checking his team into a hotel and him only black player was refused a room. Rickey said he would stay in his room and sent him ahead while he checked the team in. When he arrived to his room, the players was in tears rubbing his skin and saying "it won't come off". It haunted him for years.

[sycks22]

Saw it tonight, great movie. Harrison Ford does a great job as Rickey.

[itjclarke]

I saw it Saturday and was happily surprised, since I was sort of skeptical going in. I had been put off by the hip hop tracks in trailers, and thought it might end up being abolutely formulaic/cliched and overdone (see "Red Tails" or similar).. especially the scenes/stories many of us know from Ken Burns' Baseball or books that could have been been ruined by overdoing- Branch Rickey's story from Ohio Weslyan, Reese in Cincy, Bragen and others' petition, etc. However, I thought it portrayed each of these moments/subplots very effectively.

I see where others are coming from, in that it may have been nice to see more of his career.. but that's an entirely different movie, probably with a lot of narration (think Seabiscuit), skipping years at a time, and probably not able to focus on the challenges he faced prior to and during that first season with the any real depth. That said, given how I know I could watch the K Burns series in one sitting if I chose to, I'd have been totally fine sitting a 7 hour epic, broken up into two 3.5 hour parts.

Overall, I'd vote very good (Already wasted my vote on "haven't seen it"), not great but how many sports movies really are "great". Usually it's the emotion and/or sentimentality we baseball lovers feel that make good to very good movies "great" in our minds. And whether great or not, the message in "42" is great, will always be relavent, and needs to be told and re-told forever.

[UnVme7]

Originally Posted by jimhopkins82

Hey, saw it last night. Thought it was pretty good, not great. The actor that played Ben Chapman is a favorite of mine and that really distracted me. Very different character from what he usually plays.

I agree. My distraction was the play by play announcer played by John McGinley.

Though I thought Harrison Ford and the guy that played Robinson did a pretty good job, I felt the movie was a little corny at times and was very generic for the diehard baseball fan. They skipped a ton of history. Never even touched the 50's, but instead looked at only a few years of Robinson's life. I was pretty disappointed overall.

Not a bad movie to take the family to though...

[jboosted92]

Originally Posted by jimhopkins82

Hey, saw it last night. Thought it was pretty good, not great. The actor that played Ben Chapman is a favorite of mine and that really distracted me. Very different character from what he usually plays.

Yah,...he played a good "pirate" once...lol

[Hot Springs Bathers]

I went tonight with several family members who are not baseball fans. The entire group loved it! I own just about every baseball movie ever made and this is a top 10 entry.

It reminds me of going to Cooperstown in 1989 with some of my wife's family that were not baseball fans. After watching the movie in the wonderful theater inside there was not a dry eye in the group!

Great stuff

[Iron Horse]

Very well made. Took my wife and daughter and they both liked it.

[Cooper1927]

I loved it. The feel of the movie was perfect. Emotional response is what I look for in historical movies of this bent.

[Wymers Auction]

Anyone for 42-2? I enjoyed the movie very much and would like to see them tell the rest.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by Wymers Auction

Anyone for 42-2? I enjoyed the movie very much and would like to see them tell the rest.

Would love it if they could pull it off. I just don't see it happening. I did hear the lead actor saying in an interview, he thought it would happen.. but I hardly think his opinion carries much weight

[slidekellyslide]

Took my 12 year old son to see it last Friday and we both thought it was excellent...tons of questions about Jackie from my son after the movie. Harrison Ford was great. I guess I didn't notice the background music that some are complaining about...the only time music in movies bothers me is when it's ten times louder than the rest of the movie.