(Warner Bros. Pictures)

It's hard not to like 42 the new Jackie Robinson biopic that hit theaters Friday.

Hollywood knows what resonates with viewers and has a knack for making everything the music that one great line that slow motion moment wrap up neatly to trigger the exact emotional response it thinks you should have. So unless you're heartless being purposely obtuse or just way too cool for a movie version of Jackie Robinson 42 is going to leave you feeling good about baseball cheering Robinson and booing racism. In about the most paint by numbers way possible. That's not bad it's just Hollywood.

And Hollywood comes with its limitations. It boils down a complex story of race history and baseball into two hours worth of important moments. It scratches the surface on how Robinson (played by Chadwick Boseman) deals with venomous attacks how he bonds with his teammates and what Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) is hoping to accomplish by making Robinson baseball's first black player. 42 doesn't do much to develop the rest of the Brooklyn Dodgers save for a Pee Wee Reese (Lucas Black) scene here and an anti Jackie petition there. But if you wanted depth you'd read a book right Not sit and eat popcorn while Han Solo saves the galaxy ... err intergrates baseball.

Ah yes baseball that's what we're about here. So we'll cut the movie review (not our specialty anyway) and say this Despite all the flaws pointed out above 42 still matters. It's an important movie even if it's not a great one.

Here are five things I liked about the film

Hey it's a baseball movie. Let's skip all the historical significance for a moment and just be happy that there's a baseball movie in theaters. It's not the '90s anymore so we're not being treated to the golden era of baseball flicks. The last major motion picture worth mentioning Moneyball which came out in 2011. Maybe 2012's Trouble With the Curve counts. Maybe not. But 42 is tried and true baseball 100 percent. The baseball scenes are exciting and well portrayed. It'll make you want to pick up a glove or a bat.

(AP)

That Jay Z song isn't in the movie. Personally my No. 1 hope going into 42 was that the Brooklyn Go Hard song by Jay Z and Santigold that's been annoying me in the commercials was not in the movie. Fine song no place in a movie set in the 1940s. There were a few moments during the film where I feared the song was going to dope in and there'd be a montage of Jackie Robinson plays and my heart would break a little. But I'm happy to report that was not the case. Thank you 42.

Harrison Ford hero of baseball We've seen Ford as Han Solo in the Star Wars movies and as Indiana Jones in that series. He's a legit cinema hero. Now he's playing the hero role here as Dodgers GM Branch Rickey who viewers see as a one man cigar toting crusader for Jackie Robinson. Ford is far more grumbly than Han Solo and less nimble than Indy but he gives a strong performance.

Red Barber FTW The best of the small role characters is Red Barber the broadcast legend who called Brooklyn Dodger games on the radio in those days. John C. McGinley who many of us know best as Dr. Cox on Scrubs or from his long acting r sum magically channels Barber signature catch phrases and all. Having an old time announcer gives the movie a bit more of an authentic baseball soul.

It's a good introduction to Jackie Robinson and for some people a reason to care about baseball If you're a baseball fan you know the story of Jackie Robinson. Heck you've probably read a book about him or watched a documentary. But let's consider for a second the people who aren't really baseball fans. The moviegoer for example. There's a good chance this will be a popular movie one that extends beyond baseball fans. So let's be real Baseball could use all the new fans it can pick up. And while it's tough to say whether you should bring kids to see 42 it's rated PG 13 and the racism is nasty at some points it's the kind of movie that could get the younger audience more interested in the game.

Too Hollywood or not we can all agree that's a good thing.

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