Million Dollar Arm (2014)

Best movie ever!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A struggling sports agent is at the end of his rope, which forces him to get creative and try a gamble no one has ever tried before. He figures that he needs a new and upcoming baseball star pronto, but where would one find one. Then he figures that India as a country is a huge untapped market and surely he can travel there, hold auctions and find someone who's able to pitch a mean ball.And from thereon out it's the tried, true and patented Disney sports film formula played to death in front of your eyes. You know exactly how the story is going to go from minute one. Sure, it's not a kid's film per se, so the main character is allowed to be a bit of a jerk and there can be scenes where people are not covered from head to toe in conservative clothing, but it's still squeaky clean and safe. And I have nothing against the Disney formula, but it still means that the film is very much paint by numbers.That being said, the film is based on true events, which gives it a bit more oomph. India as a country is given a fair treatment, the two Indian baseball players given a chance to break into the American leagues are a lot of fun, the main character is likable despite or perhaps because of his jerkiness.Would I recommend the movie to anyone? Perhaps if I knew they were a die-hard baseball fan... Other than that, probably not, I have to admit.

Million Dollar Arm (2014): Dir: Craig Gillespie / Cast: Jon Hamm, Lake Bell, Madhur Mittal, Suraj Sharma, Bill Paxton: Based on a true story with a title that physically references the arm strength of two Asian teens with arms for baseball pitching. It also refers to the Jon Hamm seeking them out and what his presence means to them. Hamm plays a sports agent down on his luck and after watching cricket on TV he decides to seek out talent in India. The culture references are interesting as Hamm settles in and produces a contest that would have the winners sent to America to train for baseball. There is two impressive contestants that are packed up and sent to the U.S where predictably, they don't fit in and Hamm constantly feeds them pizza because he doesn't know how to relate to them. That's not the end of it. We are given a useless romantic subplot with Lake Bell as a nurse neighbour and the idiotic hints at a relationship. She is all sweet and giddy and totally should have all her scenes in the deleted section on the DVD release. The best performances are from Madhur Mittal and Suraj Sharma as the two Asian potentials struggling to become the next big baseball stars. It is fun watching them try to adapt to Hamm's massive house but eventually we arrive at the obvious conclusion. Bill Paxton is also strong as a coach who is sceptical about the success rate of these two new players. Directed by Craig Gillespie who previously made such diverse films as Mr. Woodcock and Fright Night. Despite the formula Mittal and Sharma bring meaning to the opportunities they are given. Score: 6 ½ / 10

As another reviewer stated, this is a bit predictable, with your underdog character and not too likable agent whose main interests are image and the lifestyle that accompanies it. Maybe I am being a bit harsh, as all of the main actors, with the exception of Alan Arkin, were not familiar to me, and hence at least they were refreshing in a way. The storyline has some funny moments, and real on-set locations in India. Also refreshing to see a movie these days with no foul language or sex or nudity. What made the movie for me though, was the the ending and the credits at the end, which made the characters and story much more real and personal. A good family film.

I am surprised by the pretty high score that "The Million Dollar Arm" has gotten.Yes, I know that it's based on a true story, but that doesn't mean that it has to be so bland and disconnected. Setting aside that Jon Hamm's character (the agent) was so remarkably unlikable, the movie, AS A MOVIE, is a big disappointment. After a cute scene of the kids encountering their first elevator, there are almost no scenes where we see someone actually doing something -- we just get oral summaries of the latest incident from one of the characters, e.g., the agent's tenant, or his secretary, etc. This is story-telling as a bunch of news- clippings, not as a MOVIE. About the only acting pizazz comes from the tenant, who keeps reminding the agent to show some humanity, and from Alan Arkin, but he wanders in and out of the movie like a sort of fairy godmother, come to occasionally refocus the agent on the job at hand.This could have been a FAR better movie. As it stands, it played like a dry newspaper story. Truth is, I learned more about the two kids from their respective Wikipedia articles.