I saw the movie 42 Saturday night. I had meant to see it on Monday the 15th, Jackie Robinson Day, but the events in Boston seemed more important. The movie was well worth the wait.

This is one of the few films I’ve seen about a sports hero in which the actor playing the hero was not as good looking as the actual person. Chadwick Boseman did an excellent job of bringing Robinson to life. We feel his pain, his anger, and the satisfaction of his successes. Harrison Ford exudes honesty as Branch Rickey. He never sugar coats anything he tells Robinson, but he’s always there for support.

Some of my favorite television actors play supporting roles. Christopher Meloni plays Leo Durocher with a bit more sophistication than I imagined for The Lip. Alan Tudyk, Hamish Linklater, John C. McGinley, and Max Gail all play excellent supporting roles (Gail is very thin. At first I thought he was Christopher Lloyd.)

The movie does take liberties. The film credits Durocher’s suspension to his Hollywood affair, when in reality it had to do with gambling. Robinson did homer in the game against Pittsburgh on Sept. 17, 1947, but it wasn’t quite as dramatic as the movie makes it.

Those are quibbles, however. The movie tells a powerful story in an entertaining way. The audience was cheering for Robinson as he overcame obstacles, and audibly decrying the slurs and slander. It is a long movie, 2:08, but it flew by.

This is an important piece of history, artfully told. My wife, who is not a baseball fan, loved it, and so did I. It’s a must see film.