Saturday, January 10, 2015

A League of Their Own (1992)

Director: Penny Marshall

Writers: Kim Wilson, Kelly Candaele, Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel

Composer: Hans Zimmer

Starring: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Megan Cavanagh, Tracy Reiner, Bitty Schram, Ann Cusack, Anne Ramsey, Freddie Simpson, Renee Coleman, David Strathairn, Gary Marshall, Jon Lovitz, Bill Pullman, Rea Leoni, Harry Shearer, David L. Lander

More info: IMDb

Tagline: To achieve the incredible you have to attempt the impossible.

Plot: Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amidst their own growing rivalry.



My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I haven't seen this in probably 20 years and it's better than I remembered.  Penny Marshall knocked this one out of the park.  Not only does it have great drama, performances, writing, scoring, but it's hilarious and the ending is touching as hell.  I can't recall having ever seen Madonna act well in a movie but she's great in this one.  Hell, just about the entire cast is fantastic.  For as much as I LOVE Jon Lovitz, I wish he would have toned down his schtick in this picture.  The pacing is great, especially for a film that's over two hours long.  Oh, and the editing is well done, particularly during the montages.  I really dig this picture.  I'm not one to want to watch a sports movie but pictures like this can just keep coming my way.  The two-disc Columbia Special Edition DVD has both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film and comes with a commentary track with the director and some of the cast, 15 deleted scenes with an optional intro from Marshall (and a play all feature), a 52 minute making of feature, Madonna's music video for "This Used to Be My Playground", and sports-themed trailers for BRIAN'S SONG (fullscreen), A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN and THE NATURAL (both non-anamorphic widescreen).

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