There's no crying in baseball movies...well, maybe a little

" A League of Their Own" may be dripping with corn and sentimentality, but its heart is in the right place and its stars are definitely in alignment--and the stars are plentiful here, from Tom Hanks to Madonna to David Straithairn.  This is a crowd pleaser, for sure, but then again, isn't every notable baseball movie?  Our CineVerse group played umpire last evening and called this film " safe" at home plate.  Here are our observations:

WHAT DID YOU FIND INTERESTING ABOUT THIS FILM, BEYOND PERHAPS WHAT YOU EXPECTED?

• It’s as surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable for men as it is for female viewers, thanks to its strong cast, colorful characters, sex appeal, and feminist subtext.

• Speaking of the cast, the actors are perfectly chosen for the zeitgeist of the times; consider that this was the height of the careers of Geena Davis and Jon Lovitz, and the time right before Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell became overexposed and passé to many audiences.  It also features some surprising cameos from two Laverne and Shirley character actors, David Straithairn early in his career, as well as bit parts by Bill Pullman and Tea Leoni.

• It isn’t afraid to take the chance of telling a lesser-known story from history about a unique gender experiment in a male-dominated sport and within a movie genre geared toward men.  If this film did not exist, many people would not even be aware that there actually was an All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League.

• It features popular actor Tom Hanks in one of his last turns as a comedic actor; he has been so strongly associated with powerful and memorable dramatic roles over the past two-plus decades that it’s sometimes easy to forgets that the first decade of his career was dominated by comedies.

• The Rockford Peaches lose the big game, which many viewers would not have expected.

ON ONE HAND, THE MOVIE HAS BEEN CALLED A STRONG FEMINIST FILM, WHILE OTHERS SAY IT SUPPORTS CONSERVATIVE VALUES AND ULTIMATELY ESPOUSES WOMEN’S SUBSERVIENT ROLE TO MEN.  WHICH GERRY DO YOU SUBSCRIBE TO?

• Blogger Katharina Bonzel posited the following: "The threat to U.S. society of having professional women athletes is dispersed most significantly in the way that Dottie emerges as the moral heroine after having given up her spot as the best player in the league to return to a conventional, domestic life with her husband. In doing so without a fight, she represents the ideal solution to the gender anxieties of post-war U.S. society. Through its flashback structure, the film frames the league as a short-term opportunity for independence and self-determination for women, without any real changes to their subsequent life trajectories. The flashback reassures viewers that almost all of the players eventually did – as prophesied by the makers of the league – turn into beautiful, charming ‘ladies,’ who were steered into the safe haven of marriage either during (like Marla) or shortly after their active sporting career (like Kit). As the moral lynch-pin of this film, however, Dottie personifies the idealized woman who has done her patriotic duty, but ultimately rejects being a (female athlete protagonist) in order to obediently return to her husband. The film celebrates these actions in a way that helps to ensure a stable society of American men and women clear about their appropriate gender roles."

• To the film’s credit, however, it shows the trick bag that these female baseball players, as well as the filmmakers, or put into: on one hand, you have to market the sex appeal of the athletes/actresses to sell game tickets and movie tickets; on the other hand, most of the women are given strong, independent voices and personalities and are depicted as having to carefully balance the expectations placed on them by society—expectations that include being a capable athlete playing a male-dominated sport and also being loyal to and nurturing to the men in their lives.

• It’s also important to remember that this picture is directed by a woman; although Penny Marshall isn’t known for being an overt “feminist”-leaning director, it’s likely that she was very sensitive and careful in personifying these characters and doing justice to the all-girls league.  Marshall to carefully juggle here: if she makes this too much of a chick flick or politically feminist film, she will undoubtedly alienate up to half her audience.

OTHER FILMS THAT A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN MAY REMIND YOU OF:

• Bend it Like Beckham

• Blue Crush

• Heart Like a Wheel

• Whip It

OTHER FILMS BY PENNY MARSHALL

• Big

• Awakenings

• Riding in Cars With Boys