During World War II, sisters Dottie and Kit join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.During World War II, sisters Dottie and Kit join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.During World War II, sisters Dottie and Kit join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.
- Awards
- 6 wins & 13 nominations
- Helen Haley - First Base
- (as Anne Elizabeth Ramsay)
- LF
- (as Renee Coleman)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring filming of the World Series games, stars took turns entertaining the unpaid extras. Tom Hanks did puppet shows over the dugout, Rosie O'Donnell did stand-up comedy; and various actors pretended to be Madonna and sang her songs after the singer balked at performing for the fans.
- GoofsThe end of the film notes that the players of the AAGPBL were "the first women ever to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame." Actually, they are not inductees. Rather, they were recognized with a permanent exhibit in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, entitled "Women in Baseball," in 1988. The first woman to actually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame was Effa Manley, the co-owner (with her husband, Abe) of the Newark Eagles. She was inducted in 2006.
- Quotes
Jimmy Dugan: Taking a little day trip?
Dottie Hinson: No, Bob and I are driving home. To Oregon.
Jimmy Dugan: [long pause] You know, I really thought you were a ballplayer.
Dottie Hinson: Well, you were wrong.
Jimmy Dugan: Was I?
Dottie Hinson: Yeah. It is only a game, Jimmy. It's only a game, and, and, I don't need this. I have Bob; I don't need this. At all.
Jimmy Dugan: I, I gave away five years at the end my career, drinking. Five years. And now there isn't anything I wouldn't give to get back any one day of it.
Dottie Hinson: Well, we're different.
Jimmy Dugan: This is chickenshit, Dottie, if you want to go back to Oregon and make a hundred babies, great, I'm in no position to tell anyone how to live. But sneaking out like this, quitting, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Baseball is what gets inside you. It's what lights you up, you can't deny that.
Dottie Hinson: It just got too hard.
Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.
- Crazy creditsShots of the real AAGPBL old-timers playing baseball.
- Alternate versionsParamount Network broadcasts in the US speed up at the audio at only 2%.
- SoundtracksThis Used to Be My Playground
Written and Produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone
Performed by Madonna
Courtesy of Sire Records
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.
- snoozejonc
- Nov 11, 2022
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $107,533,928
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $13,739,456
- Jul 5, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $132,440,069
- Runtime2 hours 8 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1