While today sports teams all over the world are racially diverse, society unfortunately wasn’t always that accepting. 42 depicts Jackie Robinson’s amazing story as the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Although Robinson was a fantastic ball player and legend, his first biopic did not completely live up to that same standard.

After World War II, America adjusted back to the way normalcy and life was pre-1941. Baseball was one of the aspects that changed, as many of the the ball players fought in Europe. When the MLB began began in full swing in 1945, Dodgers manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) wanted to recruit the first African American baseball player – and so he did. He found Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) playing for a Negro league, the Kansas City Monarchs. After playing on the Dodgers’ affiliate minor league team – the Montreal Royals – for a year, Robinson made his MLB debut in the spring of 1947. 42 chronicles the time between when Rickey recruited Robinson until the end of his first MLB season. The biopic highlights Robinson’s personal life, grand ability to play the game, sense of humor, and the absurd amount of racial predjuice (and support) he received across the country for being the first player that broke the unwritten color barrier.

Through any historical film centered around a constant that is familiar to viewers today – in this case, baseball – the audience is easily able to witness and understand snapshots of American life during a time period that’s extremely different than the world today. Baseball teams solely consisting of white players is something unimaginable in the year 2013, but breaking that barrier for the first time almost set off World War III in America. Writer and director Brian Helgeland set to chronicle this story of one of baseball’s greatest legends – for his work both on and off the field – through making 42.

And Helgeland did exactly that. He hits all of the important aspects of a biopic film – dabbling in Robinson’s personal life, hardships Rickey faced by recruiting Robinson, the unearthly amount of sneering Robinson received (and took very well) from his teammates, baseball spectators, and the country as a whole. I left the film feeling like a Robinson scholar (how much of the film is based on true and specific instances and how much was adapted for the film, I’m not sure), and left me with a higher appreciation for Robinson than I already had.

That being said, although Robinson’s story is one of the best in MLB (and frankly, American) history, 42 is an unremarkable film about a remarkable person. There’s not one aspect Helgeland did terribly wrong – Boseman, Ford (who’s voice is only becoming lower and gruffer), and the other actors give outstanding performances. The plot is nicely curved and usually well-paced, but ended with a question (i.e., did the Dodgers win the 1947 World Series?) that I was easily able to Google. Laugh-out-loud bits of humor were perfectly placed throughout the film which kept me engaged and interested. 42 hit all of the right aspects of a biopic, but didn’t do quite enough. I didn’t leave the theater on any type of high I receive from films of high merit, but I also by no means left the theater feeling disappointed. If the writing yielded more of a personal emotional connection between Robinson and the audience, a more remarkable film could have been made (note: I am an avid baseball fan, so the lack of an emotional connection did not come from apathy towards the sport).

While (obviously) focusing on mainly Robinson’s MLB career, 42 passes some opportunities to better explore his personal life, which could have nursed a deeper personal and emotional connection. For instance, Robinson states when his son is born that he’s going to be a different and better father than his own, but the plot fails to add that aspect into the rest of the film. If minor plot points such as this were not completely overlooked and better developed, the results would have yielded more of a personal and emotional connection.

Overall, 42 hits all of the major aspects of a biopic – struggles, achievements, how Robinson changed society and how he made their mark in history, both professionally and socially. While Helgeland made many fantastic decisions, 42 is by no means exceptional – which is a shame, because Robinson is one of the most exceptional people in history.

Grade: B-

Rated: PG-13 (for thematic elements including language)

42 opens in theaters on April 12, 2013.

Check out our exclusive interview with 42 star Alan Tudyk, who plays Ben Chapman!