42

There are some stories that have such historical impacts that they need to be told. The story of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League baseball, is one of them.

In a time when we high-tech sci-fi adventures and comic book based films are forced down our throats, a well told tale of bravery and overcoming adversary is a breath of fresh air. I'm not saying that I can't enjoy a decent blockbuster or graphic-novel-coming-to-a-theater-near-you (although, I am growing weary of that genre in particular), but give me a film like 42 as an alternative and I will choose it any day.

It probably helps to have an interest in baseball to begin with (I'm guessing the film plays better in America than any other continent). But even if you don't this is still a good story about post WWII racism in the US.

The film cast some of the usual suspects, Harrison Ford as the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers being an obvious choice, but the title role is played by relative newcomer Chadwick Boseman. Personally, I had never heard of him before. He is brilliant. As are all other actors, whatever side of the argument they are paid to be on in this film.

The one surprising casting would be that of the most vocal racist in the film and real life, Ben Chapman, manager of the Phillies during Robinson's rookie season. The role is played by Alan Tudyk, who we are used to seeing as a likable character. There is a short EW article about his (inspired, brilliant) casting, The nasty curveball of 42: Alan Tudyk puts an unexpected face on racism. Chapman's taunting of Robinson is the high point and low point (if you know what I mean) of the film.

Overall, despite the pathos and slo-mo sequences, this is well worth your time.

8/10

Identity

The lawyer of Malcolm Rivers makes one last ditch effort to stay the execution of his client. Rivers, convicted of murdering six people a few years back is brought to a middle-of-the-night hearing, where the lawyer and a psychiatrist try to prove that he was not aware of what he was doing because of his multiple personality disorder.

The many people in Rivers' head all end up in a motel in the pouring rain that keeps them from getting where they want to go. The group is as random as can be, including a family with small child, a prostitute, an actress, a couple of criminals, a former cop...

What happens in the court hearing and is played out by the character in the motel is that the one personality that made Rivers kill has to be irradicated. To achieve this one by one the people at the motel get killed off until the sitting judge is convinced that the culprit is gone.

The real story in the film is what is going on at the motel. The characters don't seem to be aware of what they actually are in the bigger picture, so this plays out as a quite brutal whodunit. Each person that dies gets marked with a room key, counting the bodies down from 10 to 1. They all hurl accusations and cannot seem to find any common ground on how to handle their situtation. Halfway throught the killings, one of the most level-headed of the group, Ed, turns out to be the personality that the committee around Rivers can work with.

This is when the two stories overlap, Ed suddenly finds himself strapped to a chair a not recognizing himself in the mirror. He is confused as to how he is no longer in the pouring rain by the motel. But this really turns out to be the way in. When all but one of the characters at the motel are gone, the committee is satisfied with their progress and Rivers' death sentence is overturned.

However, on the way back to the prison the psychiatrist realizes to late that one of the personalities believed to have died in an explosion acutally survived and that was the very one they would have needed to eliminate. Deadly mistake.

Despite the flaws and the confusing set up I really, really enjoy this film.

8/10