Murs Reviews ’42’ for XXL

Last week, some of the XXL staff checked out the new film 42, a sort-of biopic about Jackie Robinson, the famed African-American baseball star. We reached out to great rapper and friend of XXL, Murs – whose Whitemandingos album comes out June 11^th; you can hear a leak from it here – to review the movie for us. Here's what he had to say.

Powerful film. The real life tale of a genuine hero – his trials, tribulations, and ultimate triumph. The cast as a whole did an amazing job bringing the story to life, and Harrison Ford delivers one of the best performances of his career, which says a lot coming from a Stars Wars head.

There’s one scene in particular where Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) is listening to Pee Wee Reese (Lucas Black) express his concerns about the death threats he and his family are receiving, to which Mr. Rickey shows Pee Wee a file cabinet full of threats the Robinson family had accumulated.

That made me think about the hardships and drama our President and his family must deal with on a regular basis, which only deepened my disappointment in brothers like Cornel West and Tavis Smiley, who continue to publicly chastise our Commander in Chief when they as educated black males should be well aware that he already has enough on his plate without them tossing shade from the sidelines. But it was beautiful to see how unified, loving and supportive we as a people once were.

Overall I was deeply moved and inspired by this film. It left me feeling proud to be a Dodger fan, and a little ashamed to be a part of a generation that has done more to tarnish than to contribute to the legacy of Mr. Robinson.

[featured image courtesy of Evan Brockett]