8A - Monday, April 22, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

FiLM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW
Robinson biopic'42'
knocks it out of the park

"Do you have a quarter?"
Limited Oblivion'
lacks ines

By CONRAD FOREMAN
Daily Arts Writer
Every year on April 15, every
single player in Major League
Baseball dons the number 42 to
pay homage to
Jackie Robin-
son, who broke
baseball's race 42
barrier in 1947.
The new film AtQualityl6
"42" memorial- and Rave
izes Robinson Wamer Bros
by translating
his story to the big screen.
So ... why hadn't this movie
been made before? (Aside from
the 1950 film "The Jackie Rob-
inson Story," which starred
Jackie Robinson as himself.)
As frequently as Hollywood
capitalizes on inspirational true
stories ("Argo," "A Beautiful
Mind" - even crappy ones like
"Dolphin Tale"), it's surprising
that over 60 years have passed,
and we're just now getting a big-
budget film about true American
hero, Jackie Robinson.
"42" chronicles Jackie Robin-
son's journey from the second-
rate fields of the Negro Leagues
through the minor-league
system and all the way to the
Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming
the first black man to play in the
MLB. All the while, Robinson
(Chadwick Boseman, TV's "All
My Children") deals with the
hardship and turmoil of break-
ing racial barriers in a country
filled with people not ready to
let a black man share their bath-
rooms, let alone play the game
they love.
In his first starring role, Bose-
man harnesses raw emotion to
portray Robinson believably:
After relentless heckling from
the manager of an opposing
team, Robinson storms into the
tunnel beneath the dugout and

Script weighed connect"). They're going to go
"home" in two weeks.
down by weak But Jack isn't happy.
"Doesn't seem right," Jack
dialogue says. "We won the war ... now
we have to leave."
By MAYANK MATHUR "Oblivion" immediately sucks
DailyArts Writer you into its viewing experience
with spectacular establish-
This is "Oblivion" in a nut- ing shots of a post-apocalyptic
shell: The beginning intrigues, world, depicting desolated land-
and the end excites, but it scapes and famous monuments
leaves much to such as the Golden Gate Bridge
be desired at in varying states of demoli-
its core - an tion. These shots combine with
adventure left Oblivion Harper's eerie narrative to
unexplored. AtQuality16 cast a spell over the audience,
"Oblivion" as each person begins to think
grips you right and Rave and feel like Jack Harper. You
at the outset Universal know something's wrong with
and entices you the situation. You know there's
to embark on a something else out there. You,
promising journey but commits too, want answers. You're as
the sin of resting on its laurels involved as you can possibly
for far too long. be, and you're willing to be sur-
It's 2077. Jack Harper (Tom prised and astounded.
Cruise, "Mission: Impossible") That feeling lasts about 10
tells you that 60 years earlier, minutes.
Earth was attacked by an alien Ten minutes in, and you're
race. During the course of the forced to come to terms with
subsequent war, humans were the fact that Jack Harper's life
forced to use nuclear weap- as the last man on Earth is actu-
ons. Even though the humans ally ... boring. Sure, viewers are
won the war, half the planet treated to some visually superb
was destroyed. Jack tells you shots, and Jack does stumble
that he's now the last man on into interesting experiences
the planet. His job is maintain- with rogue alien survivors
ing robotic enforces, known as (known as "Scavs"). Beyond
"drones," which drain the plan- that, there isn't any susbstantial
et of its most essential resourc- plot development that can stand
es in order to prepare human the weight of expectations cre-
life to continue elsewhere in ated at the outset.
the universe. Jack currently You're waiting for something
lives in a plush watchtower to happen, but you're forced
located thousads of feet above to watch on as Jack recounts
the surface of the Earth with haunting memories of a time he
his teammate and lover, Victo- was never a part of and a woman
ria (Andrea Riseborough, "Dis- he's never seen. Even the intro-

duction of two new characters
- an eccentric rebel leader in
the form of Malcolm Beech
(Morgan Freeman, "The Shaw-
shank Redemption") and the
woman in Jack's dreams, Julia
(Olga Kurylenko, "Hitman"),
does nothing to stimulate any
meaningful flow of events.
It takes the better part of one
hour before things begin to take
a turn for the better. By then,
you're most likely frustrated
by a screenplay that needlessly
drags - exasperated by dia-
logue that's shallow at best. It's
almost as if the characters are
being made to repeat the same
lines in different ways. The pac-
ing is strongly reminiscent of
director Joseph Kosinski's pre-
vious venture, "Tron: Legacy"
and, at times, serves as an excel-
lent cure for sleep deprivation.
Despite being pinned down
by a paper-thin script, the two
female leads, Kuyrlenko and
Riseborough, manage to deliv-
er memorable performances
as Harper's love interests. The
man himself, Tom Cruise, turns
in a restrained performance,
which is at its best in the film's
quietest moments that see
Harper spending time alone
with what's left of the planet.
Due to poor pacing, the
majority of the film is left as an
exercise in patience and atten-
tiveness, before it attempts to
find its way back by explod-
ing onto the scene in an explo-
sive climax. However, having
remained in "delta sleep" for
most of its running time, you
wake up to an ending that leaves
you feeling a little dazed and
tired.

"Brooklyn's Finest."
shatters his bat against the wall. unnecessary. One such scene
He screams out in frustration. shows Jackie staring out of his
He contemplates quitting the hotel window when his wife,
entire endeavor before he col- Rae (Nicole Beharie, "The
lects himself and trots out to Express"), comes up behind
take the field for the next inning. him and tells him she loves him.
Harrison Ford ("Raiders of He replies likewise; the scene is
the Lost Ark") shines as Dodgers over. While it's clear that this
owner Branch Rickey. He steps scene is trying to convey how
into the complex mindset of a much a source of strength Rae
man trying to bring change to is for Jackie, it doesn't con-
the game he loves, yet unable to nect with the scenes around
do it himself. John C. McGinley it and thus falls flat. Still, the
(TV's "Scrubs") adds a humor- beautiful look of the film and
ous theme to the film as deadpan magnificence of the story make
Dodgers' play-by-play announc- the film's shortcomings easy to
er Red Barber. overlook.
"42" isn't a perfect movie.
Some will be disturbed by
H ovis this ust acts of racism, while oth-
his just ers will believe there should
being made? be more in order to make the
film more realistic.-Some will
love the old-school roots of
the soundtrack, while others
Detailed and faithful digital will lament the lack of a single
recreation of some of baseball's Jay-Z song (Really? No "Brook-
most famous ballparks adds to lyn Go Hard"? Not even in
the authenticity of the story. the credits?). But "42" tells an
From Brooklyn's Ebbets Field inspirational story that should
to Pittsburgh's Forbes Field and never be forgotten. And given
the historic Polo Grounds, "42" that MLB currently has its low-
places Jackie and the rest of the est percentage of black players
1947 Dodgers seamlessly into since the Eisenhower adminis-
the ballparks of yesteryear. tration, it's a story that's just as
Some scenes feel forced and relevant as ever.
rI

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