A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN - RETROSPECTIVE

1992's A League of Their Own is a near-perfect film.  I could end my review here, but I don’t think you believe me.  It is masterfully directed, hilariously written, and features an all-star ensemble cast at the top of their game.  The film follows rival sisters Dottie and Kit Hinson, played respectively by Earth Girls are Easy’s Geena Davis and A League of their Own’s Lori Petty, who join the first all-women’s baseball league near the end of World War II.

After being recruited by a scene stealing Jon Lovitz (TV’s Saturday Night Live), Dottie and Kit are both put on the same team, the Rockford Peaches.  I’m going to just take a moment to make sure you know what I mean by scene stealing.  Jon Lovitz absolutely KILLS IT in his brief cameo as baseball scout Ernie Capadino.  He doesn’t just steal scenes in this film, but also from every other movie that bothered to come out in 1992; doing more with a roughly 10-minute cameo than many comedians can do in a lead role.

Unbelievably, his isn’t even the best performance.  Everyone in this movie is brilliant.  Tom Hanks (The Man with one Red Shoe) is a riot as Peaches’ manager/coach Jimmy Dugan, a disgraced, alcoholic ex-player who begrudgingly accepts this second chance. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention teammates Doris Murphy, played by Rosie O’Donnell (Another Steakout) and Madonna (Dick Tracy) who plays “All the Way” Mae Mordabito.  Yes, that Madonna, but hold on.  She is impressively funny and even has a surprisingly heartfelt moment about halfway through the film.  Yet another stand-out is Megan Cavanagh (Robin Hood: Men in Tights) who ALSO steals the show as Marla Hooch.

Impressively, Penny Marshall manages to give almost the whole team little memorable moments here and there.  From Shirley Baker, who humorously learns to read with “help” from Mae, to Evelyn Gardner who not only learns one of baseball’s top unwritten rules but also must impose her bratty child Stilwell on the rest of the team.  A lesser script might fail miserably to include an unnecessary-to-the-plot child, but Stilwell is yet another highlight.

As comedies go, this is a criminally underrated triumph.  Almost every single scene is quotable and the entire cast shines.  The film is also a great lesson in tone.  While not quite a dramedy, Marshall gives the characters some surprising dramatic depth.  The dynamic between Dottie and Kit that the film hangs on is played out well and leads to a bittersweetly happy ending.  The relationship between Dottie and Jimmy is both funny and endearing as she helps him overcome drinking and even come around to his new role in baseball he first rejected.  This leads to a pretty dramatic scene near the end when the war hits too close to home for the team, and Jimmy proves he is exactly the manager these women deserve.

Do yourself a favor and seek this one out.

ONWARD - REVIEW

Onward, directed by Dan Scanlon and starring Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Tom Holland (the most recent Spider-Man films) is yet another feather in Pixar’s cap.  While it doesn’t rank among their best, it continues their tradition of mixing humor and emotion for compelling storytelling.  Once again, Pixar manages to make a family-friendly film that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults.

Taking place in a land inhabited by all types of mythical creatures, including elves, centaurs, and pixies, the film follows two elven brothers, Ian (Holland) and Barley (Pratt) as they set off on an adventure to find a Phoenix Gem.  Doing so will enable them to perform a spell written by their late father, that will bring him back to life for one day. It’s a race against time, however, as the spell was inadvertently begun, only conjuring a pair of legs, and the brothers only have 24 hours to complete the spell before their chance to see their father again disappears forever.

While the land and creatures are all beautifully rendered, and the art style is striking, I was a bit turned off by its modern spin.  Even though it’s revealed early on that magic was too difficult to master, and so the land’s inhabitants instead advanced through technological means, a land occupied by gas stations, restaurants, and freeways feels a tad uninspired.  To be fair, the target audience, children, might not mind; but then again children are dumb.

As the adage goes, it’s the journey, not the destination, and Pixar once again puts its heroes on one wild and fun quest.  However, the adults might be a little too far ahead of our characters in terms of what they’re really after, and where they’ll ultimately end up.  Still, watching Ian and Barley discover what’s truly important, and what they’re made of, definitely makes for an entertaining ride well worth taking.  Pixar knows their stuff and is able to bring everything together for a satisfying conclusion that is both exciting and moving.

One thing Pixar always nails is the cast.  Holland and Pratt are great together, playing off each other wonderfully, easily pulling off the brotherly dynamic that the film is ultimately about.  Mel Rodriguez (television’s The Last Man on Earth) steals the show as a centaur police officer, who is also dating Ian and Barley’s mother played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (TV’s Veep).  Octavia Spencer (The Help) is fun as Corey, an Manticore (another miss) who has shunned her adventurous past and instead runs a tavern-turned-family restaurant as a means to simply get by after magic was traded for convenience.

Again, not the best Pixar movie by any stretch, but that comparison is hardly fair.  It’s a funny, sweet adventure that I would recommend to any dumb child, and any adult who hasn’t let their inner dumb child die.

NATIONAL TREASURE - RETROSPECTIVE

Starring national treasure himself, Nicolas Cage, and released back in 2004, the film National Treasure is a surprising delight. Directed by Jon Turteltaub, yes, THE Jon Turteltaub who would go on to direct National Treasure 2, the film follows Cage as Benjamin Cage…er, Gates, as he searches for the Templar Treasure that has been forgotten by history.  Also starring Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight and Ned flippin’ Stark as the villain who, in perhaps the film’s boldest stroke, DOESN'T die.

We first meet Ben Gates as he is told the legend of the treasure by his grandfather, played by the voice of Viggo the Carpathian. Here we also meet Ben’s father, played by Voight, who has lost his way and is trying to live a normal, treasure-free life.  Not content with the grand accomplishment of growing up to be Nicolas Cage, Ben Gates recruits British Person Ian Howe, (Stark) and comic relief Riley (Bartha) to search for the first clue that leads to Gate’s dismayed discovery that in order to find the treasure, he’ll have to pull off a literal historic heist.

Now I admit, the whole idea of a treasure map being hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence is, in a word, shit-stupid.  However, I would argue that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that if it’s in the right hands, which, somehow, this film is.  Being British, Ian has no qualms with the idea of stealing the document leaving Gates with the notion that HE must steal it to protect it. It’s very hard not to make this movie not sound too ridiculous when describing the plot.

Suffice to say, Gates quickly ropes in archivist Abigail Chase (Kruger) and his father who we discover still has that treasure seeking spark.  Hot on Gates’s heels is FBI agent Sadusky (Keitel) and the movie is in full swing in a three-way chase to uncover the lost treasure.  Again, the plot is a fun disaster but is pretty well thought out, all things considered.  The heist in question is actually very well done, pitting Ian and his crew against Gates and Riley. It’s here that Abigail gets caught in the middle by trying to confront Gates and being captured by Ian.  Gates pulls off her rescue, and evades Ian, but due to a small misstep earlier in the caper is flagged by the FBI.  I won’t spoil how, but the scene is a good example of how each action leads to the next.  The script does pull this off nicely, cohesively guiding our heroes from one well-crafted action sequence to the next.

Chase is the better word.  Since the audience already has to suspend disbelief pretty darn far, the film wisely keeps Ben Gates a nerd, and never turns him into a one-liner spouting action hero.  Rightly, too, is Turteltaub’s decision to let Cage be Cage, but not allow Cage be CAGE.  Nicolas Cage is terrific in this, completely selling Gates’ eccentric passion and delight for all things history, while also displaying Gates’ personal stake in finding the treasure.  I cannot overstate how important it is that Cage pulls off making Ben Gates an easy character to root for.  The whole cast is good, actually, including newcomers Keitel and Voight.  Everyone seems in on the lighthearted tone of this silly movie which goes a long way in selling it.

While she needs rescuing early on, Abigail Chase is more than just "lady character" here, and instead is an invaluable member of Cage's rag-tag team.  Bartha also manages to make Riley not terribly annoying, with a few decent quips here and there.  Complete with the always reliable Sean Bean, Harvey Keitel and Jon Voight, the movie has a great ensemble cast making their way through a more than competent script that really elevates this above the absurd plot. 

There honestly isn’t too much to complain about.  If you’re looking for a light, fun adventure to escape in, you could do worse.  It’s breezy and fast paced with not a lot of fat. Clever, well-balanced and fun, complete with three dimensional characters.  Sometimes that’s enough.