I was deeply moved to tears by this movie. While I am too young to know who Jackie Robinson was I am so grateful his memory lives on. I decided to watch this when on Twitter I saw 2 ball clubs do a "42 sec moment of silence" for Jackie Robinson Day. They did not play. They left the BLM shirt on the field. That post moved me to tears which moved me to see this show to find out more. The story behind the story if you will. It is equally sad to know the actor who portrayed Jackie Robinson #42, Chadwick Boseman, had recently passed away. This movie means more than just a great show, with a well written script, spot on wardrobe and excellent acting. Racism has got to stop. It bothered and hurt to see as all are standing for the Star Spangled Banner for respect for this great country , when referees, managers, fans and players are showing how much disrespect they have for another human being. Another American. I know it is a movie but the struggle is real. Thank you to the cast and crew for doing an amazing job honoring this incredible man's memory.

The sad thing is, you would think that the racism back then would be over, but it seems to be worse today. This is a movie of perseverance (persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success). Trying to not be mad at people calling you horrible racist names, to be the first black man in a game full of white supremacists. Because, as we know, as soon as you defend or fight back, you become the bad guy. Not an easy thing to do. I loved this movie.

I've wanted to see this movie since it's release in 2012, but it was out of theaters before I got the chance to see it. When Chadwick Bozeman passed away, it compelled me to look for this movie. I loved everything about this movie, and it became particularly poignant given the sad passing of a wonderful actor and human being at so young an age. It was eye-opening to see the story behind Jackie Robinson's rise. I of course expected that it has been hard for him because of the bigotry he must have endured, but it was a real education as to how deep and insidious it hade been. What a brave man, who wouldn't compromise about who he was and what he wanted to accomplish. Two excellent men I had the privilege of getting to know better through this film and Bozeman's portrayal.

It's mind-boggling to think that within living memory someone had to be the first black player in the big leagues, and this movie does a terrific job of telling that astonishing story. Inspirational is a good description of this film, as brave people put their careers and even their lives on the line to strike a blow at the institutionalized evil of racism in America. Harrison Ford is terrific as Dodgers GM Branch Rickey, a man whose many baseball innovations included breaking the color battier by signing Jackie Robinson. Chadwick Boseman is also good as Robinson, although perhaps because of the screenplay he comes across as slightly more sainted than Robinson really was. As played by Boseman, Robinson suffers in silence more than he really did, as the real Robinson apparently could be shrill and was known to talk his own share of trash from the dugout. It's also a bit disappointing that the film doesn't show that Rickey was not the only baseball executive trying to integrate baseball, as there were some like National League president Ford Frick who told white players threatening a boycott that they would never play in the league again--in the movie it seems like it's Rickey and Robinson against the world. But overall this is an uplifting film, and you don't need to be a baseball fan to enjoy it, as it deals with the point where America finally began to deal with the ugly reality of racism. This is one of those movies that every kid in school should see.

I've already watched this movie twice and I would watch it again. This, in my opinion, is one of the best true stories of all time. I would compare his story to other well-known saints. We should all be inspired by Jackie's ability to overcome adversity. As white people, we have so much to learn from stories like his. We have no idea what it feels like to be looked at mostly by the color one's skin. If you don't know what white privilege is, watch this movie. Chadwick is an amazing actor - May he rest in peace while we continue to enjoy his acting. Harrison Ford plays a very humorous and necessary role in this film as well. Highly enjoyable and beautiful film. Hands down - Five star!

We often associate the Civil Rights Movement in the United States with events such as the Montgomery, Alabama, Bus Boycott of the 1950's, and the marches on Washington D.C. of Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960's. However, ten years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in the segregated south, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers had to endure the kind of abuse and cruelty most of us today regard as vicious, unconscionable, and even unforgivable. The heroism of Robinson is summed up by the film "42" which is also credits the man who decided to allow the first African-American baseball player to don a uniform of a team in the White Major Leagues, Branch Ricky. (The so-called Negro Leagues were as professional and quite profitable prior to Robinson's crossing the racial barrier.)

In the words of George Will as stated in Ken Burns' documentary "Baseball" Jackie Robinson, played by Chadwick Boseman in an academy-award caliber performance, was the first heroic figure of what will become the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Robinson, according to Will, was nearly as important to the movement as Dr. King. This outstanding biopic chronicles the man who challenged current status quo while playing highly competitive athletic competitions amidst jibes, curses, and epithets. To understand what Robinson endured and still be able to compete in professional baseball at the highest levels, is no less than an extraordinary achievement in the human drama of any age of history, according to Wills.

The story is presented from three perspectives: mostly from Jackie Robinson's eyes, occasionally from his wife's (played by Nicole Beharie), and from the perspective of the man who made the controversial move, Branch Rickie, played by Harrison Ford in possibly the finest performance of his career. (My hope is both Boseman and Ford will be nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars, respectively.) According to the film, Robinson had two gifts, his ability as an outstanding athlete by any standard, and his ability to take the blows of hatred without retaliation. In Ricky's words, Robinson had to be man enough and big enough to turn the other cheek, as Gandhi did in South Africa and India, and as Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights protesters did shortly thereafter.

On one level the film is a triumph of the human spirit but also a sobering indictment of what America had been prior to the Civil Rights Movement: a racially intolerant nation. Some of the most heroic moments are when Robinson is the target of such vitriolic abuse that he nearly breaks down but finds the courage to rise and take the field again amidst the mockery of opponents and spectators. Nearly as compelling are when his teammates begin to stand up for him and point out the cowardice of his abusers. Even Branch Ricky in one memorable scene, acknowledges that he doesn't know the pain of the abuse thrown at Robinson, and he supports Robinson as if they are both enduring these tests of character together to some degree. In a poignant moment, Ricky reveals why he made the first step towards integrating White Major League Baseball. "42" is without question the best offering in film thus far in 2013. Hopefully, the Academy of Motion Pictures will bring deserved nominations to all the leads, and hopefully the film will garner a few wins. Robinson deserves another home run because he made American Baseball truly the "national" pastime rather than the segregated sport it had been.

As a baseball fan who isn't quite old enough to have seen Robinson play, I'm still waiting to see a Robinson biopic that looks unflinchingly at the outrageous task the Dodgers' GM, Branch Rickey, asked Robinson to perform for his team and for major league baseball. Sure, Branch Rickey/Harrison Ford tells his prospective player he's looking for someone who has the courage *not* to fight back when he's taunted unmercifully by racists -- and, as I understand it, that's pretty much what Rickey really said to Robinson. But as a middle-aged white guy with a lick of common sense I've long suspected Rickey's ironclad job requirement is one virtually no one could have had the mettle to meet. Robinson did his best, of course, and what he achieved in 10 seasons can honestly be called heroic. But he also died at 53, and it's hard to avoid feeling the terrible gauntlet he ran in the majors shortened his life.

Still, if you love baseball you'll likely get a kick out of this movie. The only thing in it I found genuinely puzzling was John C. McGinley's performance as Dodgers radio announcer Red Barber. As a southerner Barber likely had issues of his own working for a Dodgers team that had suddenly embarked on integrating baseball. But McGinley unaccountably gives Barber a New England accent, which in retrospect seems somehow a way of minimizing any idle speculation the audience may have had about what this Mississippi boy may have felt about Robinson joining the team.

BTW: The real Jackie Robinson actually starred in the very first "42" -- a low-budget 1950 biopic called "The Jackie Robinson Story." A great movie it ain't -- Robinson was never in danger of Oscar consideration -- but as a baseball curio with the man himself front and center (and a young Ruby Dee as his wife) it's absolutely worth seeing. And yeah, it's available on Amazon instant video.

I have been a passionate fan of baseball virtually my whole life. As a child I used to devour tales of the great baseball players of the past and the history of the game. It goes without saying that I'm well versed in the story of Jackie Robinson's integration of major league baseball in 1947. The significance of this event is so apparent to me that in 1997 I went to the game where my beloved Phillies retired his number with his widow Rachel in attendance. Those who view this film won't miss the irony because the Phillies may have been Robinson's worst tormentors when he first started playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Writer-director Brian Helgeland, who won an Oscar for co-scripting "L.A. Confidential" with Curtis Hansen, is fully aware that hardcore baseball fans and students of history know the intricacies of Robinson's ordeal and is at pains to give an accurate portrait. The film follows Robinson from his time in the Negro Leagues until the end of the Dodgers 1947 season when they won the National League pennant. Helgeland gets all the arcana correct but he's careful not to give us a dry history lesson. Chadwick Boseman is fine as Robinson and he is supported magnificently by Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, general manager of the Dodgers. Ford's turn as the curmudgeonly Rickey is so good it would be an injustice if he weren't nominated for an Oscar. A testament as to what a good film this is that you want more. The running time is 128 minutes and you probably could add 20 more minutes to flesh out Robinson's story to better know this incredible man. As a sidebar I'd like to digress and relate my reminisces when Hank Aaron was challenging Babe Ruth's homerun record in 1974. It was an exciting time for me as a young baseball fan. It wasn't until years later that I found out that Aaron was receiving death threats for being an African American challenging the Great Bambino's record. This was a little less than thirty years after Robinson broke the color barrier but it demonstrated how little progress was made in a relatively lengthy stretch of time.