Review of A League of Their Own (1992) by Dawdlingpoet — 24 Nov 2021

This is a historical sports related drama with aspects of comedy in it and it covers themes including gender stereotypes and identity, sibling rivalry and co-operation.

I felt this was quite a light hearted film, although it obviously covers a fairly serious subject. I found myself rooting for the characters from the start, just about. I liked that different characters had different attitudes about taking part in the sport, with some much more gung-ho and excited than others. There are the usual stereotypes present, with some men intimating that they'll only pick 'lookers' to join the female Baseball league, presumably as they'll bring in more money from men who may want to watch them perform and not just for the sport (thats if their not killing themselves in the war, of course).

A fair few of the female characters have quite an attitude and are portrayed as rebellious - smoking, making bets and so on. Having said that, perhaps the most badly behaved, and indeed most often inebriated, character was the male baseball manager, Jimmy Dugan. He seems quite a down-and-out type, barely bothered about whats going on most of the time, certainly outside of the baseball park, where games are played.

Cast wise, Tom Hanks plays Jimmy Dugan - it was interesting watching him in what was one of his earlier acting roles. I'd be very surprised nowadays to see him playing an anti-social type, it has to be said! his character doesn't often have a great deal to be said but there were definitely some amusing moments when the women clashed with him and when his drunkenness got the better of him. His character seemed somehow slightly exaggeratedly comic, if anything.

The main female cast includes Geena Davis, who plays Dottie Hinson. She is one of the more assertive, determined and head strong type. She stands up for others when needs be but is also able to join in the fun and have a laugh at times as well. Madonna plays Mae Mordabito, someone who decides to help teach one of the less intelligent women, while, like most of the others, is also quite rebellious and frivollous. I liked the camerarderie depicted - nowadays I suppose films with a similar topic or theme are more likely to depict particularly competitive and **** women who try to out-do one another and point fingers at others but thats not really the case here.

Other cast members include Rosie O'Donnell (best known for her US TV talk show), Anne Cusack, Tea Leoni and Kathleen Marshall, who also directed this film. She's well known for the various popular films in the 1980s that she worked on, including Big, which also stars Tom Hanks.

I felt that this film was rather sentimental-ised (if that counts as a word?) but I quite enjoyed it regardless. There is quite a strong use of music used, primarily during scenes showing the sportswomen at play on the baseball park, at which times its mostly upbeat brass band style music, with There is some fairly witty dialogue - I liked how Jimmy interacted with Dottie, once the team started to get to know one another a bit better (in a non-sexual way, of course). I found myself feeling sad (although not entirely unsurprised) for how quickly the females were overlooked and how other men talked about them. Content wise, this is a family friendly film and so it features no really graphic/explicit/offensive material. There are a few uses of mild profanity, although nothing exteme. There are also some mildly suggestive scenes, such as characters talking about going out and their tight clothing being criticised, plus one or two short scenes showing women in underwear but no graphic nudity is shown. Characters are also shown both smoking and drinking but other than that, there is nothing likely to offend viewers. The film carries a PG rating to reflect this content. I suppose its a thought provoking film, as far as it maybe making you wonder if society has it right in regarding women as only ever being second best in some male dominated industries or roles. I thought the tone was about right - fairly comic, quite amusing at times but also serious when the plot called for it to be. It is undeniably rather 'saccharine sweet' and sentimental but I excuse it for this, as I felt that, as a film, it worked remarkably well overall.

Yes I'd recommend this film, as I feel it covers an interesting true story and it raises some good questions about stereotypes - it is relatively sentimental and some may feel its a bit too cheesy but I thought it was quite an easy and enjoyable watch and it wasn't as grim as it perhaps could have been, so for once I liked that it was relatively Hollywood-ised. It features a decent cast, with a particularly noteable (so I felt) performance from Tom Hanks and its suitable for the majority of a family to watch together. If your not keen on relatively sexist comments and films with a sentimental tone, then you may not particularly enjoy this but otherwise I say its worth a watch.