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Given the subject matter, this should have been a great film. Harrison Ford is credible as Branch Rickey, but -- I'm sorry -- Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson simply doesn't cut it. If the producers wanted Jackie Robinson to appear as something of a dim wit, then they succeeded admirably. I also can't help the feeling that the producers and directors intentionally played down the racial hostility that Robinson endured, because I find it hard to believe that the dim wit Robinson portrayed in this film could have endured the emotional battering that the real Jackie Robinson undoubtedly experienced. (I am too young to recall events in the late 40's and early 50's, but I vividly recall the civil rights battles of the 1960's -- and they were bad enough.) So, as a portrayal of fact this film is -- OK, but as a tribute to Robinson and a memorial to his accomplishments, I think that this film falls well short.
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I don't agree that Chadwick Boseman appeared dimwitted in this film. I'd say that he appeared one-dimensional. He did a fairly decent job of portraying Robinson's resilience in the face of racial hatred. And his character did garner sympathy. However, the film as a whole was just woefully predictable: scene after scene we see Robinson on the baseball field getting booed and taking verbal abuse from the fans. The problem is that we all know he was verbally abused! Anyone who has ever read a newspaper article about Robinson would be able to tell you that he was the subject of racial abuse on the baseball field! What else does this film show us that we didn't know already? Almost nothing! That's why it gets a 5/10. And that's only because Harrison Ford's character redeemed it to that degree. :)
I think that some people do not know all the "facts" presented in this movie but I do agree as in any form of writing, the things that we don't know or know little of, or slants, twists and turns; they all help to captivate interest in the audience. See my review coming up as I still thought it to be a good film of substance and perhaps Chadwick Boseman portrayed exactly what he was supposed to depict, i. e, a strong man in a different way; the strength to not be like his racist opponents.