Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2013

The story of Jackie Robinson’s (jersey number 42) triumph over professional baseball’s deeply rooted racism in 1947 is one of the sports world’s most inspiring. TV actor Chadwick Boseman is good in the lead, and Harrison Ford’s a hoot as Dodgers GM Branch Rickey. Brian Helgeland’s (Payback, A Knight’s Tale) movie is competent, polished and inevitably rousing. But it’s also generic, more about the legend than the man and perhaps better suited as a teaching tool. I couldn’t help but wonder what a gutsier director, like Spike Lee or Clint Eastwood, would do with the story. Japanese title: Sekai wo Kaeta Otoko. (125 min)