If you haven’t seen the movie First One In yet, you’re in for a treat!
There is much to be said about the VERY competitive world of ladies league tennis, and writer-director and league tennis player, Gina O’Brien serves it up perfectly:
“First One In is a comedy for women, but it isn’t the typical comedy for women. It isn’t about parenting, romance, marriage or girls’ nights in Vegas. I like those, but this is different. It’s about women who challenge themselves away from their everyday lives, on a team with other women.”
“During the day in tennis clubs across America, millions of women gather to hit balls at each other. I’m one of them,” says O’Brien.
“We wear trendy outfits, visors, and elbow and knee braces. We drink coconut water and eat protein bars and take acetaminophen. We are middle-aged women of all shapes, sizes, and athletic ability. Our personal lives may differ from one another, but on some 250,000 courts in the U.S., we’re all tennis players. Many of us aren’t good, but the competition is as fierce as the pros, sort of, and it’s fun material for a screenplay.”
Gina O’brien, writer director
Gina O’Brien is one of us… she’s a tennis chick, so she gets us. I absolutely LOVED the First One In movie. It is well-written and directed, and the characters are totally relatable… it’s 98 minutes of unplugged, unadulterated fun!
In a nutshell:
For Madi, there is no vote. She is immediately banished in shame.
First One In is the story of Madi Cooke, a former high school tennis player who gains infamy as an eco-terrorist when she accidentally kills an endangered animal while on a popular reality TV show. It costs Madi everything… her job, her respect, and her grit.
“I’m the most hated woman on the planet right now.”
Madi Cooke
To hopefully regain some normalcy in her life (and a regular paycheck), Madi gets a makeover from her mom. And with a last-minute name change, she is ready for her job interview with Bobbi Mason, an overachieving, tightly wound real estate shark at the #1 real estate firm in Connecticut. Bobbi is also a tennis freak and Madi has to really up her game to get the job.
Madi hasn’t played tennis for nearly 20 years, so she returns to the place where she used to train, the Acme Indoor Tennis facility.
There, she joins an ongoing 3.0 ladies clinic with tennis pro, Fernando and his group of hilarious misfits, Jane, Ceecee, Preeti, and Valentina. She also renews her strained friendship with her best friend and former high school doubles tennis partner, Ollie.
Madi meets her new pro and makes fast friends with the ladies in the clinic. | PHOTO SOURCE: First one In
Soon, Bobbi’s very pregnant doubles partner Rosie has her baby and can’t play in an upcoming friendly match between coworkers, so she chooses Madi as her replacement.
When the ladies first meet at the court, they exchange friendly tennis-y banter. But how does Bobbi really feel when asked if the serve warm-up should just be the first one in?
“First one in is for pussies!”
Bobbi Mason
Madi teams up with Bobbi and proves herself a worthy doubles partner. | PHOTO SOURCE: First one In
From there, a comedy of unforced errors ensues, and before long, Madi finds herself back on the courts, only this time, her opponents are Bobbi and her minions. And the prize is everything she once lost.
My personal take away
As a league player, I can totally relate to the First One In movie. I see bits of myself (and teammates and opponents) in many of Gina O’Brien’s characters. I think there is a little bit of all of us league women in First One In, and I wholeheartedly invite you to discover them all for yourself! And please share this with your coach/pro, and all of the tennis league women in your life! FYI: It is rated 16+ for potty-mouth hilarity, so view at your own risk, lol!
How to watch
Amazon Prime members can rent the commercial-free version of the First One In movie for $3.99. You can also purchase it and add it to your video collection for only $10.99. And if you don’t have Amazon Prime yet — you can get a FREE 30-day trial right HERE! Then, you’ll not only be able to watch this movie, but you’ll have access to thousands more! There are tons of great Prime Original series too, and that’s just what you can WATCH! Amazon Prime has TONS of other perks too, like FREE 2-day shipping (sometimes even same-day shipping!) on pretty much everything you can think of to buy!
Of course, if Amazon Prime isn’t for you, you can also stream the First One In movie on iTunes, and watch with commercials on Peacock, Peacock Premium, and Tubi.
