42
Director: Brian Helgeland
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Christopher Meloni, John C. McGinley, Lucas Black, Alan Tudyk
Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 122 Minutes
Release Date: April 12, 2013

Written and directed by Brian Helgeland, 42 stars Chadwick Boseman as legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson.

The biopic begins with Robinson as an up-and-coming shortstop in the Negro leagues with the Kansas City Monarchs, before moving up to the minor leagues, playing second base for the Montreal Royals.

Robinson was signed by Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), making him the first African-American player in Major League Baseball history. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson emerged from the tunnel at Ebbets Field in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform – No. 42 – smashing the league’s color barrier and changing the sport of baseball forever.

Helgeland’s gee-whiz approach to “The True Story of an American Legend” is old-fashioned to a fault. Although the film doesn’t shy away from the hateful prejudice and racism Robinson encountered, 42 is so on-the-nose, so heavy-handed, that it borders on Hallmark Channel Original territory at times.

Hello and Welcome! This is Adam Frazier aka Famous Monster and you’re about to download the eargasm known as Skull-Face Island, the official movie podcast of Geeks Of Doom!

As always I’m joined by Katie Holmes‘ Former Scientology Handler, David Allen — and That Creepy Guy Who Pumps Your Gas in Every “˜Cabin in the Woods’-esque Horror Flick, producer Tim Grant.

On this week’s transmission we’ll be discussing director Pete Travis‘ DREDD 3D as well as the trailer for 42, the new Jackie Robinson biopic, which tells the story of the legendary baseball player who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier when he joined the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Also, we’ll be talking about Universal Studios forcing 47 Ronin director Carl Erik Rinsch out of the editing room, and Len Wiseman‘s connection to the upcoming Mummy reboot.

One of the best moments in sports history was when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and became the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Inspirational stories like Robinson’s are begging to be made into movies, but rather than create a straight-up biopic on the most celebrated athlete, 42 will focus on the relationship between Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) and Dodgers’ manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford). So check out the first trailer for 42 below.

There are plenty of performances to look out for and enjoy. Ford looks like he is back at the top of his game starring as Branch Rickey, the man who believed that signing Jackie Robinson would change the face of Major League Baseball. Sure the music may be a bit contemporary, but its tone certainly fits into the theme of the film. But the big reason why these kind of films work so well is because everyone loves to cheer for an underdog.

If you can’t get Jack Nicholson, I guess this is the next best thing.

Deadline is reporting that Legendary Pictures is looking to none other than Harrison Ford to take on the role of Branch Rickey, for the studio’s upcoming biopic based on the life of Jackie Robinson.

Entitled 42, the film is being penned and will be helmed by Brian Helgeland, and will follow the story of Robinson and his iconic rise to major league baseball. Rickey, Ford’s potential role, was the Brooklyn Dodger’s executive who took a shot on him in the minors, and brought him to the big team.