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Laramie Movie Scope:
A League of Their Own

A funny film about a historic women's baseball league

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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July 6, 1992 -- ``A League of Their Own'' is the latest box office summer smash to hit Laramie and it is one of the better films of the summer.

The only thing that spoiled it for me was that the huge publicity push for the movie has resulted in so many clips of the film being shown that I had already seen many of the better scenes in the film.

Nevertheless, Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and a terrific cameo by Jon Lovitz, all turn in great performances. The dialogue by screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell is very crisp for the most part. The film is very funny until the end, when it becomes maudlin, but then somehow, excessive sentimentality seems O.K. when the subject is baseball -- look at the success of ``Field of Dreams.''

Essentially this is a story about sisterhood and the love of baseball. Deftly directed by Penny Marshall, she does a good job of making the argument that while some women may love the game as much as men do, their priorities in life are different. Marriage and family come first, or they did in the late 1940s.

Madonna appears in the film as a somewhat naughty and modern woman, a role custom made for her image. Some of the baseball scenes are not terribly convincing. Despite careful editing, some of the actors cannot pass as athletic, but the final climactic game in the film plays very powerfully. It is an exciting climax.

Later, the film arrives at the present day, with the surviving members of women's baseball league having a reunion at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It is a kind of epilogue grafted onto the film, but it serves to remind us once again that the film was based on a real baseball league.

It is a fitting tribute to those who played and those who kept the league going for over 10 years. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)