ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

donaldricco Subject matter is 5 stars, the movie itself, 3. It was fun to see this the day after Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson Day, and I'm glad I saw the black and white version, and not the colorized one! Super cool to see Jackie playing himself, and during his playing career no less! I've always loved his voice! And it was also super cool to see a young Ruby Dee playing his wife! What a lucky guy! I've always thought Rachel Robinson was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and Jackie gets another gorgeous lady to play his wife in a movie! What I didn't like about the film was how it was put together. Lots of short, choppy scenes that were very uneven and herky jerky. And the ends of many of those scenes were just awkwardly done. Very disruptive to the storytelling, in my opinion. But watching Jackie was well worth it, and I'm glad I finally watched this! And little things like having the umpire behind the pitcher made me appreciate the game of baseball and its long, long history.

richard-1787 I give this movie a 10 not because it is an "excellent" movie, which it is not, but because of what there is to be gotten out of it.What there is not to be gotten out of it, from what I have read, is an accurate depiction of what Robinson went through once he joined the Dodgers organization. In 1950, when this movie was made, Robinson was still very much an active player in the league, and the people who made life miserable for him, including players on the Montreal and Brooklyn teams, were very much alive, some still Robinson's colleagues. Just as the name of the league is changed to the International League, so other details are altered or ignored, probably to avoid lawsuits. In that sense, "42" can name names and give facts that this movie could not.On the other hand, what this movie offers is the chance to watch the real Jackie Robinson relive some of the difficult, terrible moments he had to go through to stay in major-league baseball - and pave the way for other Blacks to do the same. Even though this time it is only actors hurling the (I suspect very toned down) insults at him, denying him access to a restaurant, etc., you get to watch his face as he no doubt had to relive what it had felt like to experience those in real life just a few years before.It is a deeply difficult and very moving experience for the viewer as well, different from what I felt watching an actor - and a very fine actor - go through the same episodes in "42". Robinson reacts to everything very quietly. He didn't have a deep, booming voice like James Earl Jones, for example. But if you look at his face, you see that there is real power there, fighting any man's urge to strike back.The best parts of this movie are not easy viewing, but they allow us to experience, to some extent, the injustices against which Robinson had to fight with him. Not 30 years after the fact, but just three or four years later. We see the same Robinson who had just gone through all that, a Robinson who would therefore have remembered how it made him feel only too clearly.This movie doesn't have much to do with baseball. It has a very great deal to do with courage and moral strength.And also: I preferred the performance of Minor Watson here, as Branch Rickey, to Harrison Ford's portrayal in "42". Ford made Rickey a comical curmudgeon. Watson makes him much more human.-----------------------If you want to see a documentary on Robinson, try this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8xS8lZl2RIIt shows that some of the most painful lines in this movie were actually said to or about Robinson.

MartinHafer Yikes--the print for this public domain flick is a mess! Yes, it's scratchy, a bit blurry and the sound isn't great, but it's also a great chance to see Jackie Robinson himself play in this bio-pic.This biography of Jackie Robinson has sanitized his life just a bit by the filmmakers. However, despite a few omissions here and there, the film is a decent biography--a billion times better and more truthful than the awful bio-pic on Babe Ruth completed just two years earlier. When I say sanitized, I mean some parts of Jackie's life are omitted because they didn't portray the image some folks wanted to give in the film. So, Jackie's military history is pretty much ignored--even though he dealt with A LOT of racism and a court-martial that was motivated by the color of his skin and Jackie's unwillingness to be treated like dirt. I think including it would have made for a better film, as he showed a lot of character but it just didn't fit into the 'turn the other cheek' portrayal in the film. Plus, perhaps it was too big a topic to include in this relatively short film. Overall, a decent film and it was nice to see that Robinson wasn't at all bad as an actor! Well worth seeing and a nice bit of Americana.Some things of note in the film: Jimmie Dodd plays a minor role as a scout for UCLA. Dodd later went on to be the host of the popular kids show, "The Mickey Mouse Show".Robinson was a star in college in basketball, baseball, track AND football. The film talked about all but his track prowess.The films shows such troubles encountered by black ballplayers as not being able to eat in restaurants, being booed just for being black and outright hostility.The use of 'boy' and the almighty N-word might offend many today but it DID add realism to the movie. I'd hate to see political correctness sanitize race films too much.

dhartzell While Jackie Robinson was never in danger of Oscar consideration for this performance as himself, within the confines of a low-budget movie with a creaky script he does a creditable job.And perhaps more to the point, his charisma is palpable ... and almost makes it obvious why Rickey decided he was the man to run the gauntlet in 1947. He's just so damned likable!Also: I have to say that the heart of the movie -- and I don't think *any* actor could have done a better job here -- is the sequence where Robinson shows up for his first practice with the Montreal Royals. He tries to join a couple of pepper games without success and, on his third try, grows tired of being ignored and calls for a fellow player to throw him the ball. Cut to a medium close up of Robinson as he pounds his mitt and, with a poignant look of anxiety, expectation, and defiance, holds it up, asking for the throw.Nearly as good is the smile that crosses Robinson's face when the player with the ball (who gets his own reverse shot, looking at his white teammates skeptically as if to say, "Should I throw to this {your racial epithet here}?") finally tosses it to him. That smile and Robinson's gesture with his glove on catching the ball -- the kind major league infielders usually reserve for acknowledging someone's sparkling play --says more than any dialog could. And it feels unscripted in its natural tension and release. Brilliant!I doubt Robinson needed *any* coaching to do that scene. And I suspect nobody then or now could have done it better.Robinson is the movie. Most everything else, with the possible exception of the young Ruby Dee's serviceable (if undemanding) performance as Robinson's wife, is window dressing.