A League of Their Own

A League of their Own, another classic movie that I grew up with. I have to admit it, I'm a girl, I totally fell in love with this movie. But I'm one of the rare girls that loves baseball with a passion, I was raised in a very baseball oriented family, we live in Chicago, we kinda have to enjoy sports, lol. But growing up you wonder why baseball, football, basketball are more for the boys vs. the girls, girls can play but are not famous for it and if they are an athlete are accused of being manly. It's a tough world, but when I was 7 years old A League of their Own was released in theaters, my family saw this movie together and my life changed. Sounds silly, but this was the movie that reminded me to stay strong, at the time when women were expected to stay in the kitchen, as hard as they had to work for it, there was a women's baseball league during WWII. A League of their Own explores this hard but extremely fun time for the girls of the All American Baseball League.

When World War II threatens to shut down Major League Baseball, candy manufacturing magnate Walter Harvey decides to create a women's league to make money. Ira Lowenstein is put in charge of public relations and scout Ernie Capadino is sent out to recruit players. Capadino likes what he sees in catcher Dottie Hinson. She's a terrific hitter and he offers her a tryout, but the married woman is content where she is, working in a dairy and on the family farm in Oregon while her husband is away at war. He's less impressed with her younger sister, pitcher Kit Keller, who loves the game passionately but appears to be less talented. He finally lets her come along when she persuades Dottie to give it a try for her sake. When the trio arrive at the tryouts in Chicago, they meet Doris and Mae. They make it onto the team, The Peaches who are managed by drunkard former baseball great Jimmy Dugan. Jimmy initially treats the whole thing as a joke, leaving the managerial duties to Dottie. However, he takes over when he sees how hard and well his team plays. The league attracts little interest at first. With a Life magazine photographer in attendance, he asks them to do something spectacular. When a ball is popped up behind home plate, she catches it while doing splits; the resulting photograph makes the cover of the magazine. More and more people show up and the league becomes a huge success.

The acting is absolutely superb, we have actors on top of their game, Tom Hanks who delivers the memorable "There's no crying in baseball!" speech. Geena Davis who was a great heroine as the star of the league who just wants her husband home from the war but is hanging onto the league for her little sister's sake. Even Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell are great together and have awesome chemistry as best friends Mae and Doris. This is one of those chick flicks that everyone has to see because it worked on every level. Penny Marshall truly brought out the pain these girls had to go through to be taken seriously. The ending always gets me in tears I have to admit, just knowing that these girls hung in there and stayed strong when everyone told them that girls couldn't play ball, let's hope that one day they'll have the opportunity again.

10/10

For the person who said that the movie was good up until the reunion scene, you really need to go rent it and think that comment over, buddy. The reunion scene is what ties it all together! It shows you what happens to all the characters! I think that scene was one of the most adorable! And the casting! The women who played Kit and Dottie's part as older women were fantastic! They looked exactly like them! Every time I watch it with someone who has never seen it, they exclaim, "What good makeup work they've done!", thinking that they just made up Geena Davis and Lori Petty. For whichever person it was who said it dealt too much with the rivalry between sisters and not enough on the league, that was the whole point! That's the plot, that's everything about the movie. If they had focused entirely on the league, not only would it not hit the theatres and wind up being some stupid special on A&E, but nobody would watch it even then! True, to the women who lived it all, it was exciting, but unless you make it into a movie that good, nobody's going to end up caring. Children who saw A League of their Own learned about women in baseball and saw the beginning of females playing sports. Do you think more than about 3 kids in America would know ANYTHING about how women's baseball started if it had just been a boring documentary on the History Channel? I don't think so. To conclude this long-winded speech about why you two who commented negatively should go rent the movie again, I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs-up! I know I rented that movie a 14 year-old girl who figured girls had been allowed to play sports since Jesus was alive and after watching it, knew entirely better. One of the most fabulous movies and might I add - My favorite actress/director, Penny Marshall did a WONDERFUL job on it. And just a note: Keep an eye out for Penny's new movie, Riding in Cars With Boys. It's sure to be a good one, overlook the title, anyone who liked League will like this one, I guarantee!

An ex-baseball player reminisces on her time playing.

This is an enjoyable tearjerker and comedy with strong character moments.

'A League Of Their Own' has a good, albeit fictionalised, character-driven story about the formation of the All America Girls Professional Baseball League. The plot is driven by the friction between siblings Dottie and Kit, the humorous arc of manager Jimmy Dugan, and the struggle to sell female baseball to a wartime audience.

Geena Davis leads it well as Dottie and is plausible as a dutiful old-fashioned wife who is slightly conflicted because she's the best player in the league.

Lori Petty portrays Kit's inferiority complex so well she crosses the line to become annoying in some scenes, however it is an effective character arc.

Tom Hanks has the best material and makes the most of it with a hilarious portrayal of a cynical, aggressive, alcoholic manager, with enough humanity to get away with behaviour that most men could never.

All the support cast are great, particularly Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn, Rosie O'Donnell, Bitty Schram, and Tracy Reiner. I never believe for a second that Madonna is anyone other than Madonna in a baseball movie, but she is entertaining.

There are a number of emotional moments and you need a heart of stone not to appreciate some of them. The ones that connect with me involves a character leaving her father for the first time and another receiving the dreaded wartime telegram. By the end of the film though it feels to me like the writers overdo the sentimentality.

Technically it is as good as it can be when using actors to portray professional athletes. The cinematography and visual storytelling are strong throughout. The baseball scenes are very well edited. There are several decent montages that are expected in sports movies.

For me its a 7.5 but I round upwards.

Set at the start of World War 2, Geena Davis and Lori Petty are recruited to the first professional baseball league for women. The sisters struggle to keep the league going against the odds, while their own personal rivalry begins to escalate.

I don't pretend to know much about baseball, so if this element is poor i wouldn't really notice, but i did feel that it was a good setting for the story.

Quite touching and well directed, i was surprised how compelling this movie was. All in all the strong cast and pleasant script makes this a good movie, with a little for everyone.

8/10

"A League of Their Own" tells a story that is rarely discussed in historical circles. The country is immersed in World War II and it is up to the women to keep professional baseball going. The film follows the sometimes rocky relationship between two sisters (Geena Davis and Lori Petty) who go from a small town in the midwest to the major leagues. Tom Hanks does outstanding work as the former player who now manages their team. Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell are among the other girls on the team who keep Hanks on his toes. Penny Marshall's direction is very solid here and she tells the story with a dignified style and grace that works well on the silver screen. A very good comedy-drama from the early-1990s. 4 stars out of 5.