Must See Movie...

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Subject matter is 5 stars, the movie itself, 3. It was fun to see this the day after Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson Day, and I'm glad I saw the black and white version, and not the colorized one! Super cool to see Jackie playing himself, and during his playing career no less! I've always loved his voice! And it was also super cool to see a young Ruby Dee playing his wife! What a lucky guy! I've always thought Rachel Robinson was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and Jackie gets another gorgeous lady to play his wife in a movie! What I didn't like about the film was how it was put together. Lots of short, choppy scenes that were very uneven and herky jerky. And the ends of many of those scenes were just awkwardly done. Very disruptive to the storytelling, in my opinion. But watching Jackie was well worth it, and I'm glad I finally watched this! And little things like having the umpire behind the pitcher made me appreciate the game of baseball and its long, long history.

I grew up at a time after Jackie played so I couldn't experience Jackie enough because he died before his time, This film is a chance to see and hear a very important man. This film makes the man more real to me. It's not so much for entertainment as it is for posterity. How many other films will you find with the real Jackie Robinson in it? The quality of the film is secondary to having a visual account of such an important man. The baseball sequences are reenacted but that is Jackie swinging at the ball and running the bases. I could care less if the film was good or not. Direction, editing, even acting are of little consequence. For the record, it's not great but it's okay.

THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY is a slightly formulaic, but nonetheless solid, biopic that really deserves more attention that it receives. Robinson stars as himself, the first African American to break through pro baseball's color barrier. It's by no means an easy task as he confronts a society that is far from united in wanting to see this groundbreaking endeavor succeed.The film is to be credited for not shying away from the racial tension of the time. Robinson endures racial slurs, unyielding boos, the indignity of sitting at the back of the bus, and so on. It's both shocking and infuriating to be reminded of how bigoted and unreasonable society was just a few decades ago. In many ways Robinson's is a heartbreaking story, even though we know it has a happy ending.Robinson won't be mistaken for an Academy Award winner, but his performance is decent. He proves to be a highly likable screen presence, portraying the sort of gentleman that by many accounts he was in real life. Some of his supporting cast is stiff, but by and large the performances work.Surely this important story will again one day be given the big screen treatment. And whoever gets behind the camera for that effort will have a solid foundation to which to refer in THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY.

I think this movie had really bad production value. The lack of acting makes me think they should mark it as an early docudrama. It may have had no money available for its making. I feel bad that it was a ruff ride into the Major League for Jackie Robinson.I believe he was much better than many of the white players of his day. He had to be really great to break the color barrier of the time. No getting around that this was a really bad movie.Wish there was more info about its makers. They may have been limited by the quality of actors that were willing to take on the project. Maybe no money to get good people.