A League of Their Own

It's sentimental and overlong, the period dialogue doesn't always sound authentic, and one has to put up with some strident overplaying by Tom Hanks. But most of what makes this movie about the wartime All American Girls Professional Baseball League score in spite of such drawbacks is the way it's been deftly structured by director Penny Marshall (Big) and writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel to resemble a 40s musical (albeit, somewhat anachronistically, one in 'Scope); the rest is mainly streamlined and spirited teamwork. The more prominent ballplayers include Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Rosie O'Donnell, Megan Cavanagh, Tracy Reiner, Bitty Schram, and Ann Cusack, and other significant cast members include Garry Marshall, Jon Lovitz, and Bill Pullman. By Jonathan Rosenbaum