Filmmaker Ken Burns' four-hour documentary about the life of Baseball HOFer Jackie Robinson, which airs tonight and tomorrow on PBS, is a "lump-in-the-throat trip, inspiring and exciting, through a life that has often been viewed only within the confines of the game he played," according to Robert Lloyd of the L.A. TIMES. Burns "widens the view" of Robinson to "take in the husband, father, activist, columnist, businessman and political figure, for better and worse (but mostly for the better) an expression of the man." It is a story "of sports and character, civil rights and changing times; it honors the beauty of Robinson's play as well as the strength of his resolve." It is also "very much a love story, whose living star is the endlessly impressive Rachel Robinson." All of Burns' "stylistic hallmarks are here: the usual unmatchable collection of photos and film clips, interviews with friends and colleagues and fans and scholars, the knitting together of disparate threads, the love of dates and places." The film "brings the old world to vivid life, but its messages are for today and any day" (L.A. TIMES, 4/11). Burns said that the U.S. public too often views Robinson as a "mythological figure encrusted with the barnacles of sentimentality and nostalgia." Burns: "We have turned Jackie Robinson into shorthand for our own wishes and desires when the real person is so interesting and so contemporary." SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote the film is a "fascinating and complete picture of Robinson from birth to death." President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were "among those the filmmakers interviewed" (SI.com, 4/10). In Oklahoma City, Mel Bracht notes singers Harry Belafonte and Carly Simon, NBC's Tom Brokaw, ESPN's Howard Bryant and former MLBers Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine and Ralph Branca were all interviewed for the film (OKLAHOMAN, 4/11).
ANOTHER CLASSIC: In Boston, Mark Feeney wrote the "most amazing sight" in the film is the "transcontinental smile that spreads across President Obama’s face when Michelle Obama cites the crucial role of Robinson’s wife, Rachel, in her husband’s success." The documentary "isn't just for baseball fans," as it is "a biography, a portrait of an era, and a portrait of a sport that reflected that era’s racial injustice." Rachel Robinson is "the documentary's touchstone," just as Buck O'Neil is in Burns' "Baseball" documentary released in '94. Actor Keith David "delivers the narration," while actor Jamie Foxx "reads from Robinson’s letters, autobiography, and journalism." While "forceful and moving, Foxx sounds nothing like Robinson’s distinctively reedy voice" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/7). In L.A., Chris Erskine wrote, "Every few years, Ken Burns releases another epic -- buttery and well-seasoned, the outside a little crisp." That the topic "again is baseball is further reason to rejoice that spring is once again in the air." Burns' baseball work is "as fluid as the game itself." The Jackie Robinson doc ranks "right up there" with Burns' best works, as it is "full of surprise and fresh insight." Like baseball itself, the film is "long, occasionally gritty and as rhythmic as a summer rain." The historic clips in the film "are phenomenal" (L.A. TIMES, 4/7).
OFF THE FIELD: USA TODAY's Robert Bianco gives the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, writing Burns and his co-producers are "too good at their jobs to let Robinson get lost among the conflicts that swirled around him." Like all of Burns' work, the film is "beautifully done and blessedly free of the shoddy re-creations that slip into so many documentaries these days, including those on PBS" (USA TODAY, 4/11). In N.Y., Neil Genzlinger wrote the core portion of Robinson's story is "so familiar" that Part 1 of Burns' film "may not seem like vital viewing." But Part 2 "examines Robinson's later, less celebrated years." In the second part, which airs tomorrow, Burns and co-directors Sarah Burns and David McMahon -- his daughter and son-in-law -- "venture into the less clear-cut part of Robinson’s life, when he became more outspoken about civil rights yet wasn’t always viewed heroically" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/9). MLB.com's Jon Weisman writes Burns' film "debunks some of the mythology" around Robinson. More importantly, the documentary "brings to life the setbacks Robinson faced off the field, that had little if anything to do with sports." The documentary is a "depiction of how some alternately embraced and recoiled from Robinson, illustrating how even after ensuring his remarkable place in American history, he was still vulnerable to intense criticism" (MLB.com, 4/11).
HERE'S TO YOU: The HUFFINGTON POST's Peter Dreier wrote under the header, "In Ken Burns' New Documentary, Rachel Robinson Finally Gets Her Due." Until now, much of what Americans know about Rachel Robinson is "what they’ve seen in the two major Hollywood films about Jackie," which both depict her "as Jackie’s supporter, cheerleader, and helpmate." This is "all true, but it is an incomplete picture of this remarkable woman." Burns’ documentary will "help remind Americans about Rachel’s resilience, courage, and remarkable achievements during Jackie’s lifetime and in the 44 years since his passing" (HUFFINGTONPOST.com, 4/8).
