"Their chances fall between slim and none".
J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) is a struggling sports agent looking for the next big thing. He is trying to convince a big-time NFL player, and at the same time, trying to keep up with his single life. One day, he and a friend are watching a game of cricket, and come up with an idea to recruit the fastest pitchers of the game in India, a program titled "Million Dollar Arm". With the help of a university baseball coach (Bill Paxton) and a sleep-heavy scout (Alan Arkin), they may be able to pull off a miracle with a couple of fast-pitching kids that, don't even play cricket. What?
The production qualities are very good here. First, the cinematography works extremely well. The shots of India are beautiful, and we get a good view of the Taj Mahal. Just the rustic view is a refreshing look considering we've all seen L.A. in the movies before. The acting is also very good. Hamm brings Bernstein to life with sincerity, and successfully shows the selfish playboy turned into selfless caring father. Paxton and Arkin are both terrific in their roles, while Lake Bell does decent work as the love interest, Brenda.
The Indian actors are the stars here in my opinion. Suraj Sharma (star of Life of Pi), Madhur Mittal and especially Pitobash Tripathy (yes, I had to Wikipedia who played their characters) are all terrific and bring emotion and such relate-ability to Rinku, Dinesh, and the hilariously memorable Amit. Besides that, the screenplay takes some of the easy road for a sports drama, but does add some personal grit that makes it more hard to believe the happy ending that is in store.
A.R. Rahman does a good job with the music score. The true story photos and videos at the end were terrific ending additions. A lot of humorous moments make the film even more entertaining.
On the downside, considering this is a Disney movie, I have to admit, the film can feel a little too edgy at times. Yes, Disney movies may pop in a double-entendre from time to time, but this one seems more like Iron Man in terms of innuendo and sexual references. It was enough that after a great start that the middle of the movie made it just a little difficult to work through and made the overall movie less inspirational. In all honesty, it might have been better if the screenplay cleaned up just a little bit.
Disney has been doing sports movies since the late 90's. Movies like Remember the Titans, The Greatest Game Ever Played, and my personal favorite, Secretariat have all been inspiring, memorable sports dramas. Hearing of Million Dollar Arm, I was already excited to see what kind of story this would take.
Turns out, this particular underdog story has a bit more grit and sophistication than you might expect. We witness the comparison of poor conditions in India in comparison to the good-natured conditions of America. Rinku and Dinesh don't come from the best environments. And despite the predictability/sugar-coating of the screenplay, it does seem interesting that the writers did add just a touch of these qualities to the finished film.
That being said, there's a lot to like. The acting, humor, and amount of feel-good stuff in this movie is still enough to have me smile. But, despite some familiar lessons and a great amount of heart, the inspiring part of the usual sports movie is surprisingly not as present here as other films. And some of the content dabbles into territory that Disney normally doesn't go in.
By the time the last pitch is thrown, Million Dollar Arm isn't a fantastic film, but its still entertaining, humorous, and pleasant enough that it still is an interesting ride otherwise.
Score: 7.0/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of
Language: Limited to just a half-dozen exclamations (5 uses of "what the h---?" and one "d---"). Elsewhere, "oh g--!" gets interjected four times and we hear a couple uses of "crap".
Adult Content: In a couple of potentially problematic scenes, one character walks in on a woman on the toilet (she is covered), and then it switches to a shot of a shirtless J.B. in bed as he hears her scream. One other scene has Brenda inviting J.B. into her home (we only see them kiss) and then we see him leave her house the next morning (to the teasing of the Indian boys). A few other kisses. One female is shown leaving J.B.'s house. One suggestive reference has Brenda talk about that she slept with a repairman to get a discount. A couple other references here and there. A few revealing outfits.
Violence: Someone hurts their finger.
Alcohol/Drugs: Some beer and assorted alcohol seen on occasion. The Indian boys drink too much alcohol-infused punch and vomit.
Other: Brief vomiting and bribing.
