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First Hit:  A very good and enjoyable film that covered most all the necessary bases, sort-of-speak.

Jackie Robinson made history by being the first black man (“negro” in the film) to sign and play on a major league baseball team.

Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) was the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers and he foresaw the day, ahead of everyone else, that putting the best players on the field is what is important. Later on in the film Jackie (Chadwick Boseman) sits down with Branch and asks him to give him the real reason why he took this chance; the answer is heartfelt.

Overall this film is set up to please everyone. It isn’t a dark film, which it could have been, nor does it gloss over the pain Jackie went through; it is placed in the middle. I think this was done to bring in a wider audience.

There are scenes in this film that are beautifully done: Pee Wee Reese (Lucas Black) returning to his home town and realizing he has to make his truth known on the field; and Leo Durocher (Christopher Meloni) dressing down the team for the petition they were signing. The film is filled with them. Yes, some of it is sugar coated, but the diatribe by the Phillies manager was clearly enough to give the film audience a taste of what Robinson went through.

The baseball scenes were well shot and brought the beauty and intensity of baseball to the screen.

Ford was amazingly gruff, focused, driven and a joy to watch as he truly made this role his own. Boseman was really great as Jackie. He gave us an amazing view of the emotional ups and downs that Jackie might have gone through. Nicole Beharie gave us a solid performance as Jackie’s wife Rachel. Being of strong nature herself, the shock of the south required her to find other ways to fight back. Meloni was fantastic as Durocher. John C. McGinley as radio announcer Red Barber was really good. Andre Holland playing black sports writer Wendell Smith was really good and at times inspiring. Brian Helgeland wrote and directed this with an eye and ear for baseball and the social commentary required to pull this off.

Overall:  This was a very good full family film.

Get Low

First Hit: Better film than what the previews showed and Duvall is strong in quirky character role.

Get Low is the phrase Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) uses to talk about dying and being put in the ground. Bush is a self-imposed hermit for over 40 years. People have stories about him but as he says in his clipped sentence sort of way; just because that's their story doesn’t mean it is true.

Bush lives by himself on 300 acres of land and shoots at most people that trespass on his land. He’s starting to feel that he is nearing the end of his life so he hires a funeral parlor run by Frank Quinn (played by Bill Murray) and Buddy (played by Lucas Black) to give him a party before he dies. He wants people to come to the party and tell stories about him.

However, what he really wants is to tell his story. He asks his best friend and Reverend Charlie Jackson (played by Bill Cobbs) to tell it for him but Cobbs refuses. To promote interest he offers anyone his land by asking people to send in $5.00 to Quinn Funeral Parlor and with the $5.00, the person gets a chance in the lottery.

Sissy Spacek plays Mattie Darrow who “had a go” with Bush many years earlier and even takes a walk with him on his land. As the day arrives, hundreds of people show up to hear the truth as Bush experienced it.

Duvall makes the most of this role and the minimal dialogue he is given. He carries the burden of the unspoken truth with conviction and it works well. Spacek is good but nothing exceptional as his one time girlfriend. Murray as the funeral director Quinn is solid and is one of Murray’s better serious roles. Black was very strong as Murray’s assistant and becomes Bush's new friend. Aaron Schneider directed this film with the kind of subtlety required to make it work.

Overall: Although not a great film it was solid enough to keep my interest and told a good story.