Let's get one thing out of the way, my knowledge of baseball encompasses Wii Sports and a couple of Simpsons episodes but after watching this movie about to leave Prime Video, you'll be hooked too. Just make sure to catch (pardon the pun) it before it leaves the streaming service on February 11th.
A League of Their Own is that rarest of beasts. As well as getting me to care about a sport I've never played, it is a movie that manages to be both funny and deeply moving. So what's it about? Well it's actually based on a true story.
Well, with America's men all drafted for WW2, a bold project to keep morale up at home begins. A professional women's baseball league. At a time when gender roles were more defined than ever, this was an unprecedented opportunity for women across the country.
We follow (the fictional) Dottie (A sublime Geena Davis) a farmhand from rural Oregon who is scouted (alongside her sister Kit) to play for one of the newly formed teams. The Rockford Peaches. That team name alone should tell you something about atttitudes towards the competition. The girls are given lessons in womanhood and forced to wear short skirts. The Peaches coach is Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks playing against type), a former player in the big leagues who is now a sour drunk that doesn't care about the team. Despite all of this we follow Dottie as she and her teammates (including Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell) battle against the odds for credibility off the field and success on it.
It is an incredibly funny movie, but also one that can be devastating. For every woman left behind, there is a constant fear of recieving a life-changing telegram from Europe, while anyone who doesn't have a tear at the ending scene is truly made of stone. Luckily you don't have to stop watching after the movie ends.
There is a A League of Their Own Amazon original series which isn't going anywhere. It has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes too and is definitely worth a watch as well. Unfortunately it was inexplicably cancelled after its only season, but maybe if we all watch it then they'll change their minds. Batter up.
