Poster Review - 42

I'm late to the party but I still wanted to bring my desserts, dammit!

Though I placed it in my top picks of the early 2013 season, sharing company with a film that was rescheduled and another that was universally loathed, 42 is not expected to be boffo or wholly unique. Judging from the early critical notices, the latter proves to be true. I am interested by breakout lead Chadwick Boseman and the supporting turns by an eager Harrison Ford and Christopher Meloni and expect to see it later in the year. However, I know that the only true legacy for this film is as a video rental, re-runs on TNT, bait for the Image Awards, and the lucky placeholder for teachers when talking about the civil rights movement and/or Black History Month.



The film's mainstream poster, spread like butter in all of America's theaters, is a baffling misfire. Though striking, the sell is more of a fantasy film than a Hollywood baseball flick; it seems that Jackie Robinson is ready to fight off evil Ben Kingsley and save the sands of time. It would have been better, not to mention make perfect sense, for the action to be horizontal than vertical, similar to last year's praised (?) Skyfall poster.



Even the poster I prefer more could have been executed better. Instead of the bottom right title reveal, the minimalist message should have just been the back of Boseman's jersey. After all, why spend more time on the marketing when your film's title is both a bland pick and the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything?