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Contactmusic Ltd (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
... segregated decade. Race plays a major part in Express. Growing up, Davis idolized Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier but, in Davis' words, "did a lot without saying nothing" (screenwriter Charles Leavitt actually makes Davis more of a mouthpiece for desegregation and racial equality than is alluded to in Robert Gallagher's book, upon which this film...
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atHome Top Story (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
... excels despite setbacks and prejudice, even if the tale can't approach the legend of baseball's Jackie Robinson (whose significant breaking of the ball diamond colour bar is referenced more than once).This is not to demean Davis, whose life was shortened by tragedy. But it does limit how far director Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls) and screenwriter Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond) can...
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Detroit Free Press (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
... followed Jim Brown to Syracuse University, wore Brown's number and faced racism.Inspired first by Jackie Robinson, then by Brown, Davis (Rob Brown) became racially aware and insisted that his don't-make-waves coach (Dennis Quaid) see what he represented and let him make a stand for racial equality in the America of the early 1960s."There are some lines people don't want to see crossed,"...
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filmcritic.com Movie Reviews (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
... a segregated decade.Race plays a major part in Express. Growing up, Davis idolized Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier but, in Davis' words, "did a lot without saying nothing" (screenwriter Charles Leavitt actually makes Davis more of a mouthpiece for desegregation and racial equality than is alluded to in Robert Gallagher's book, upon which this film...
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USA Today (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
... wasn't a racist, he was old-school. What he found in Davis was a running back akin to Jackie Robinson: a straight arrow determined to stand up for himself. Quaid is lean and grouchy in a showy role: In one scene, he barks to his team that he's not prepping them to play the New York City Ballet Company.Despite appealing performances and kinetic football scenes, the storytelling is...
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Miami Herald (Free subscription) | 10/09/2008
... their lives in some parts of the country. Doors had been opened to locker rooms by the likes of Jackie Robinson. But Davis found that an open door does not mean an open mind.Davis gets recruited to play football at Syracuse University by Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), a coach who believes there is only one reason to play football: to win. That Syracuse has three black players...
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File it Under (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008
Let me sum up in as few words as possible: You've waited too long to be it wrong. Yes, you can make history by ignoring all of the glaring faults Obama has. My question is why? Jackie Robinson stands out because he was first and remarkable. The same with Dr King. The same with many of the Black pioneers. They broke the barriers with their excellence. Obama hasn't done anything remarkable...
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ESPN (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
Jesse Owens. Jackie Robinson. Bill Russell. Jim Brown. Elgin Baylor. Oscar Robertson. Muhammad Ali. Elgin doesn't belong on the list. That's what you're thinking. Not the guy who wore goofy sweaters to the NBA lottery every year. Not the unofficial caretaker for the worst franchise in professional sports. You might accept him on the "Worst GM" list, or even the "Celebs Who Looked Most...
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Boston Globe (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
This is Zelig Zim's seventh decade in professional baseball. He met Babe Ruth when his American Legion team won a national championship in 1947. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949 and he was there when Jackie Robinson stole home in the 1955 World Series. He was a member of Casey Stengel's original Amazin' Mets in 1962 and he managed the Chicago Cubs to a division title in 1989....
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Ballers, Gamers and Scoundrels (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
... for every black baseball fan in my parents’ generation, simply because of the signing of Jackie Robinson. (It’s also not surprising that the last team to sign a black player is at the bottom of the list. But that’s a blog for another day.) What does it mean? For one, while baseball is still not attracting a preponderance of black players (and never will), the current black major leaguers...
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Semicolon (Free subscription) | 10/05/2008
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” ~Jackie Robinson Another baseball book, also somewhat philosophical, but definitely all-boy. Earl Grubb’s Pool Supplies plays Northeast Gas & Electric in the Little League championship game, six innings of tension, hope, disappointment, and fun. Sam, the announcer for the game, has [...]
