Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Since I have little interest in sport, I would not naturally be draw to a movie - based on actual events - about the search in India for cricket bowlers who could be trained to play in the USA as baseball pitchers, following their selection in a reality television show called the "Million Dollar Arm". But it was recommended to me by a good friend and it proved to be a sound tip. No knowledge of baseball (or cricket) is needed and indeed the film is not really about sport at all, but rather an examination of how chance and opportunity can change people's lives, whether it is poor young men in India or a middle-aged man in the States.Unlike say a sports movie such as "Moneyball" with Brad Pitt, this is not a work fronted by any stars. Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal play real-life Pittsburg Pirates players Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, while Jon Hamm is sports agent J. B. Bernstein. In an able cast, some more familiar faces - Alan Arkin, Bill Paxton, Lake Bell - appear in support roles. In a sense, the pitch for the film must have been similar to events it narrates: something that can appeal equally to audiences in the USA and India, the two most lucrative film markets in the world. It is formulaic and unoriginal but it works because it is so charming and amusing.

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

Jon Hamm stars in "Million Dollar Arm" from 2014, also with Lake Bell, Alan Arkin, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, Aasif Mandvi, Bill Paxton, and Darshan Jariwala. This is based on a true story.A down and nearly out agent, J. B. Bernstein, comes up with the idea of having a reality-show type competition finding Indian cricket players and turning them into pro baseball players in the U.S. He convinces one of his investors to go along with it.At first, it's hopeless, but eventually they find two young men with great arms, though they don't play cricket, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel. They travel to the U.S. to train and then compete.It turns out to be more than just a competition, particularly for Bernstein, who realizes slowly that he's not doing his job right. He's treating the competition as a business and leaving the emotions of these boys dangling.Well made if predictable film and a wonderful feel-good story of these young men, far from their country, homesick, trying to adapt to Los Angeles, baseball, American food, and big homes; and it's also the story of a smart but desperate man who loses sight of what's important.Maybe I'm prejudiced, but I happen to think that Jon Hamm is an excellent actor. Granted, in the beginning, the character is closer to Don Draper in his shallowness; character differences are subtle. He's a little less formal and a little more energetic than Don. But like his Don Draper, his performance is multilayered. He's a very internalized actor, but when his character becomes angry, watch out.Alan Arkin is hilarious, and Lake Bell is just right as the medical student next door.The Indian actors do a tremendous job as young men taken out of their village and thrown into a strange world. They are totally convincing.I actually didn't recognize Bill Pullman as the team coach working with the competitors. He is quite good.Highly recommended.

What made this movie so good was that it finally presented baseball in terms of having fun and not necessarily the money angle which has become so prevalent in this major American sport.Jon Hamm was excellent in the role of the agent who goes from seeing the big money angle to the exact opposite.He goes to India to recruit prospective pitchers for the big league in an attempt to sign them at big salaries. He finds his guys and brings them back to the U.S. but after a series of disasters brought about due to the psychological, social and cultural differences between countries, he sees them fail miserably at tryouts.It is only when he comes to see that baseball is not solely an investment,that success is achieved in the end. There were times that Hamm's facial expressions reminded me of his Don Draper of "Mad Men." There are the usual disasters, love interests and other items deemed comical, but in the end it's the human element that allows for success to be achieved.