This week I had the opportunity to see an advance screening of Disney’s latest live action movie, “Million Dollar Arm.” Typically this is the type of movie I wouldn’t be into. Sports? Boring. But, I love me some Hamm so I SELFLESSLY went and saw it. And I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this movie. While I found the plot to be a little formulaic (grumpy guy learns how to love!) and predictable (lead character falls for hot neighbor he somehow never noticed before!), the movie does have a lot of heart and a good message behind it, one that I preach as much as you can – work hard and believe in your dreams, and good things will happen.
Movie Synopsis from Disney: Based on a true story, sports agent JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) finds that business has changed and things aren’t going well for his career. In a last ditch effort to save his livelihood he concocts a scheme to find baseball’s next great pitching ace. Hoping to find a young cricket pitcher he can turn into a major league baseball star, JB travels to India to produce a reality show competition called “The Million Dollar Arm.” With the help of cantankerous but eagle-eyed retired baseball scout Ray Poitevint (Alan Arkin), he discovers Dinesh (played by Madhur Mittal from “Slumdog Millionaire”) and Rinku (played by Suraj Sharma from “Life of Pi”), two 18-year-old boys who have no idea about playing baseball, yet have a knack for throwing a fastball. Hoping to sign them to major league contracts and make a quick buck, JB brings the boys home to America to train. While the Americans are definitely out of their element in India, the boys, who have never left their rural villages, are equally challenged when they come to the States. As the boys learn the finer points of baseball, JB, with the help of his charming friend Brenda (Lake Bell), learns valuable life lessons about teamwork, commitment and what it means to be a family.
The movie jumps right into the plot quickly, almost a little too quickly to really feel much emotion for JB Bernstein’s financial woes. While Hamm certainly has charisma, there’s only so much smolder you can give to make up for a rushed plot. Almost immediately we see Bernstein in India where he has to culturally adjust to traffic, cows hanging out in people’s homes, and the food (some toilet jokes here … enough to make me think to myself “stop with the toilet jokes” and then that was it). Madhur Mittal (“Dinesh”) and Suraj Sharma (“Rinku”) as the two winning Indian pitchers do a great job of getting the audience to connect with their characters in a very short time. By the time they were saying goodbye to their families as they left for America, you really felt the emotion. Overall I feel this two hour movie could have been cut down by 20-30 minutes. The Million Dollar Arm contest finals in India went on a little too long (tough to build suspense when it’s already clear who’s going to win) and while the scenery is beautiful, the many shots of India’s scenic and not-so-scenic landscapes could have been cut down a little.
Once everyone is over in the States, we see some comic relief as the young Indian boys learn about American culture (How does the elevator work?! What is pizza?!). The jokes may seem a little silly and predictable, but they work. Brenda, played by Lake Bell, is a tenant in the guest house on Bernstein’s property. As Brenda befriends the two boys, who are living with Bernstein, we start to see the romance between Brenda and Bernstein. Brenda is played by the beautiful Lake Bell, who I recognized from Adult Swim’s Children’s Hospital. She has great comedic timing and hopefully it won’t be long before we see her in a lead role. And I want to give special mentions to Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show) who played Bernstein’s business partner Aash, and Alan Arkin as baseball scout Ray. It was nice to Mandvi in an actual semi-dramatic acting role since I really enjoy him on The Daily Show, and Arkin stole every scene he was in despite being asleep during most of them. (He was asleep, not me.)
Despite the two hour run time and a couple long scenes, I felt the movie stayed on track and moved along well. I was actually shocked when the movie ended very abruptly (but with a really cool scene). Stay through the credits to see photos of the real Bernstein et al who inspired the movie. Overall “Million Dollar Arm” is your typical feel-good Disney live action movie, with few surprises and a few laughs. At the very least, go for the Hamm. Always go for the Hamm.
Can’t wait to get to the movie theater? Here is a newly released movie clip and featurette for you to enjoy until then!
Million Dollar Arm – Clip – “They Need To See You Care”
Million Dollar Arm – Featurette – Dreams
“Million Dollar Arm” opens in theaters across the US on Friday, May 16, 2014. It is rated PG.
All images copyright Walt Disney Studios.
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