Review: "42" (***½)

Harrison Ford and Nicole Beharie star in "42"

Sharing movie houses with expanding arthouse hits like "The Place Beyond the Pines," "Trance" and "To the Wonder," baseball biopic "42" might not be the most visually striking or thought-provoking film worthy of a Friday night at the cinema this month. The film is exactly what it aims to be, however—a crowd-pleaser with mass appeal. Writer-director Brian Helgeland has a successful past as a screenwriter, winning an Oscar for "L.A. Confidential" and earning a second nomination for "Mystic River." As a director, his most successful film to date is "A Knight's Tale," a lightweight but stylish starring vehicle for the late Heath Ledger. "42" is a handsome film that, while failing to reinvent the inspirational sports film genre, makes for a well spent two hours looking at one of baseball's most important historical figures.

"42" Trailer

Chadwick Boseman stars in "42"

Another day, another trailer of a Georgia production. "42" is the story of American baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Brian Helgeland, the Oscar-winning writer of "L.A. Confidential" and "Mystic River" is the writer/director of the film which stars Chadwick Boseman as Robinson, Nicole Beharie, Harrison Ford, Lucas Black, Alan Tudyk and Christopher Meloni. You might rememeber the film shooting in Macon for nearly three weeks earlier in the year. Production also took place in Atlanta, Birmingham and Chattanooga.

The trailer for the film has just been released and our first glimpse is a striking one (pun sort of intended). It hits theaters next April. Check out the trailer after the jump!