| 12+Cautions: language, mild sensuality and immodesty
42: The True Story of an American Legend is a well-crafted biopic about Jackie Robinson in his double character of civil rights forerunner and exceptionally talented baseball star. Accurate in the essentials, 42 covers a brief section of Jackie’s life and highlights the personal struggles that he, his wife, his friends and his white teammates go through as they come face to face with the reality of race prejudice and ultimately reinvent Major League Baseball as a game for all Americans.
2013 | Brian Helgeland | 128 min Watch Trailer
Language
G-d
G-dd-mn
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d-mn
d-mn
h-ll
h-ll
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b-tch
b-tch
b-tch
b-tch
b-----d
b-----d
a--
a--
a--
sh-t
Judas Priest
scr-w you
What in Satan’s fire
Son of a gun
Son of a gun
For Pete’s sake
For the love of Pete
shoot
Negatively-portrayed characters use the derogatory word n-gger dozens of times. Other slurs, like “kike”, “coon”, and “carpetbagger” are briefly mentioned.
Mild Sensuality and Immodesty
A minor character is seen being woken up in the middle of the night, shirtless, lying in bed next to a woman in a black nightgown. The scene is not very sensually intense, since both are drowsy and the man is on the telephone with his boss the entire time. The woman does begin trying to get his attention and runs her hands over his shoulders.* Their negatively-portrayed relationship is said to be adulterous, and one of the main characters, a Christian, tells the man that the Bible has a thing or two to say about adultery.
A strongly racist man taunts Jackie by asking him which one of his teammates’ wives he’s “climbing on” tonight.
A couple (married on screen, unmarried in real life) kisses a few times. Jackie kisses his wife’s chest, more tenderly than sensually.
A woman is briefly shown in a camisole.
Men appear shirtless a number of times, though not in a sensually-portrayed way. The players are also seen in the shower from the rib cage up, or wrapped in a towel. A man is briefly seen in only his boxers. A man’s suggestion to Jackie to join the white players in the shower initially sounds more like a personal invitation, resulting in immediate, awkward backtracking.
* This scene lasts from approximately 45:35 to 46:55.
Note:
A character makes a passing comment about baseball being democratic because it is irrespective of race, politics and religion.
One of the characters portrayed as a Christian (referencing scripture sincerely and usually in an appropriate context) also uses some inappropriate language. Jackie, who is portrayed as a Christian, comments that he doesn’t like needing anyone for anything (which may have been the reality, but is not a biblical attitude). Jackie also says that he doesn’t think it matters what he believes, only what he does, though this is probably meant in a specific context, not as a universal statement. Someone mentions doing something “like the devil”.
A character jokes about God belonging to the same Christian denomination that he does.
A lamented side character is said to have claimed that his adulterous relationship was worth losing his job.
Most of the characters in the film (including the hero, obviously) have devoted their lives to professional game playing.
Jackie is injured in the head and in the leg during different games, which might be somewhat intense for sensitive viewers, though no blood is shown. A car nearly runs into another automobile head on.
A briefly-featured young boy rolls his eyes at his mother’s concern and reminds her that he is ten years old.
A very negatively-portrayed character compares Jackie Robinson to a monkey a couple of times.
A man smokes cigars throughout the movie.
