This movie was on my radar when it first came out, but I never got around to it. I finally watched it this summer after Chadwick Boseman’s death, and I’d say it pretty much stacks up to the impression I got from the initial trailers – that, despite some strong acting, it’s a fairly paint-by-numbers Black-icon biopic.
In 1947, Jackie Robinson is handpicked by president/general manager Branch Rickey to join the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first Black man to play for the major leagues. In his first season on the team, he fights to keep his head held high and focus on the game as he’s met with racism at every turn, including from his own teammates.
I’ll start with one particular detail I like. I appreciate that, though plenty of attention is paid to the racism and hatred that Jackie unsurprisingly faces in the South, that doesn’t mean the North is some paradise of racial harmony. He experiences greater threats of violence in the South and deals with the systemic issues of Jim Crow segregation, but in the North, the main difference is that the racism is slightly less structural. For instance, in the South, it’s arranged for him to stay in the homes of Black community members because it’s illegal for him to stay at the same hotels as the rest of the team, whereas in the North, the team is simply refused entrance at a hotel altogether – there’s no law that says that Jackie can’t be there, but he’s still not getting in.
But by and large, this is kind of a white-people’s movie about discrimination. As we watch Jackie nobly suffer the hate that’s hurled at him, he’s often positioned more as a figure than a character and the film appears to have little interest in really digging into who he was. By contrast, lots of screentime is devoted to the personal journeys of the white characters. There’s Branch Rickey variously championing, encouraging, and advising Jackie throughout the film, and while I don’t know if I’d say it’s a full-on White Savior thing, it bugs me that we often know more about what’s going on in his head than Jackie’s. And when it comes to Jackie’s fellow Dodgers, we’re given multiple scenes to show assorted players’ changes of heart, becoming more open-minded and accepting toward their boundary-breaking teammate. Honestly, a number of these scenes seem to be like 80% osmosis, change that comes purely by being around Jackie. It doesn’t seem to go deeper than them watching how badly he’s treated by rival teams/many of the fans and realizing he doesn’t deserve it.
That leaves Jackie himself kind of passive in dynamics that directly involve him. I can’t help but think of a movie like Just Mercy, which includes several white characters who come around and do something good (or at least back down from doing something bad,) and most of these moments come about because of something Bryan does. He intuits a way to reach them, his tenacity outlasts theirs, he appeals to their better angels, something that shows his influence in catalyzing this change. Jackie isn’t really given the chance to do that in this film.
One other hint that this movie isn’t as good as it could’ve been? The lighting. Ever since I read this interview with John Cho where he talks about how people of color are lit in movies and on TV, I pay attention to it, and I think he’d definitely classify this as a movie where the Black characters are “carelessly lit.” Chadwick Boseman’s complexion in this movie often looks darker than it really was, and there are multiple scenes in low lighting between Jackie and Harrison Ford’s Branch Rickey, in which it’s hard to even make out Boseman’s face while Ford’s is “somehow” still clear.
It’s a shame that the perspective is so wonky, because it makes a middling film out of something that could’ve been really great. The cast is brimming with talent. Ford is the obviously “shooting for a Best Supporting Actor nod” performance as Branch Rickey, and AndrĂ© Holland (who first caught my eye as the adult Kevin in Moonlight) does well as Wendell, the journalist documenting Jackie’s experiences. Alan Tudyk (Wash!) is effective in a very uncomfortable role, and the film also features Christopher Meloni, Hamish Linklater (I still like him best as Andrew on The Crazy Ones,) John C. McGinley (I’ll always think of him as Dr. Cox,) and Toby Huss (who played Bos on Halt and Catch Fire.) Side note: I had to look up Huss, because I knew I recognized him, but all that came into my head was Ed Harris and I knew he was too young for that to be right.
But the real standouts here are Boseman as Jackie and Nicole Beharie (pour one out for Abbie Mills) as his wife Rachel. Even though Boseman isn’t allowed to be the undisputed star of the film that he ought to be, he shines whenever he gets an opportunity. Jackie feels like a real character despite a relatively-thin characterization, and that’s almost entirely down to Boseman. One scene in which Jackie feel gives voice to all the bullshit he’s been putting up with is an acting highlight of the film. I also like the little touches that add breadth to the character, like how, even amid all he has to endure, he still comes alive when he’s playing ball. And Beharie isn’t in nearly enough scenes, but every time she and Boseman share the screen together, it’s magic. If the film had properly centered on Jackie and leaned into depicting his relationship with Rachel, this could’ve been a great movie.
Warnings
Strong thematic elements (including racism,) violence, drinking/smoking, suggestiveness, and language (including racial slurs.) Honestly, given the language, it shocks me that this movie is rated PG-13. Two F-words is an automatic R, but you can just say the N-word as a slur as many times as you want? That’s messed up – is there some kind of “historical context” allowance that lets you go all in with it?
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