Viewed in
2010
Formats
HD TV
Premise
Tom Hanks and a bunch of recognizable actresses star in a story about a female baseball league in America during World War II.
Loved
Ridiculously deep cast.
Liked
The charming characters.
Disliked
The sappy melodrama.
Thoughts
If you were to play a "six-degrees of" game with movie stars, this would be a very reliable hub to use. There was radiant Geena Davis in her peak, awesome Tom Hanks as the curmudgeon drunk, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Bill Pullman, David Strathairn and Jon Lovitz in a hilarious role as the bitter scout. Scrolling down the cast, you can find an undiscovered Tea Leoni, Harry Shearer, Wayne Gretzky's wife, Superman's dad from Lois and Clark TV show, Sharona from Monk, and a lesser Cusack.
Thanks to the writing and the performances, the film did a very good job of making each character distinguishable and and unique. Without resorting to too many cliches, it had me laughing and smiling with its zingers, charm, and occasional low-brow moments. Pretty much everyone got a chance to shine.
As I feared, it went sappy on me about halfway through. While the strong performances prevented me from hating it, I did not appreciate the somewhat-sudden turn of melodrama about losing loved ones to war and sibling infighting. Then they had to throw in the obligatory, "shout out to the Blacks!" moment.
Another flaw was the length by bookending the main section with the characters as present-day grandmothers. Once again, it turned up the sappy by following their reunion and getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now you might argue, "hey, they want to give respect to these pioneers". If that were true, then the flashbacks should have been more realistic, instead of full of Hollywood comedy.
Overall, I found the film to be very likable and fun. But it could have been shorter.
What I would change
Cut out the entire way too long "where are they now?" part, and just cut straight to the ladies making it into the Hall of Fame. Also, use a different song for the ending. Madonna's "This Used to be my Playground" is excellent, but too much a downer to close the film.
