This quality TV movie concerns US baseball legend Jackie Robinson, who finally succeeded in breaking the colour barrier to play in the Major Leagues. But the film moves away from the standard biopic to focus on the time that the gifted young athlete spent serving in the then segregated US army in World War Two, suffering the humiliation of racial prejudice and eventually facing a court-martial on trumped-up charges. The film is beautifully put together, with excellent attention to period detail and superb performances from André Braugher as Jackie, Ruby Dee as his mother (she played Jackie's fiancée in the 1950 film), Stan Shaw as boxing champion Joe Louis and Bruce Dern as the racist baseball scout. A fascinating and moving piece of history.


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