42, Written and directed by Brian Helgeland whose credits range from scripting L.A. Confidential to directing Payback and A Knight’s Tale, functions beautifully as a tribute to Jackie Robinson’s courage and dignity. In this latest effort, Helgeland seems to walk that thin line of racism, right down the middle, between discomfort and relevance. It’s a decent movie that aspires to overemotional mediocrity in an effort to tell an important story in a way that will least upset anyone. When all is said and done and despite what we think of the actual cinematography of it all, this is a movie about a crucial moment in black history written by, directed by and largely starring Caucasian men. It’s a movie that opts to start telling its story the moment that men of color entered America’s favorite past-time; baseball. It’s a movie that spends a lot of time making sure we know that a lot of non-minority folks had to be there to help Robinson make his mark in history. This is a movie that seems to convey the black experience that often doesn’t get spot-lighted for the right reasons, in America. I don’t think any one group owns the copyright on stories about themselves, but I have to wonder what 42 with a different perspective, would look like. READ FULL 42 REVIEW >>