Million Dollar Arm
Million Dollar Arm features a strong cast, an accomplished screenwriter, and a quality director - who ultimately deliver a solid but unremarkable sports drama.
Based on true issue , Million Dollar Armfollows professional sports agent J.B. Bernstein ( Jon Hamm ) and his partner Ash Vasudevan ( Aasif Mandvi ) who have fallen on surd times - after leave their high - paying corporate agency problem . In a despairing attempt to write their upstart firm , and maintain his own luxurious life-style , J.B. founds theMillion Dollar Armreality goggle box contest in India - to look for for undiscovered athletic endowment that can be developed into professional American baseball game player .
J.B. brings competition winners Rinku Singh ( Suraj Sharma ) and Dinesh Patel ( Madhur Mittal ) to America for education - under the pedagogy of unorthodox pitching tutor Tom House ( Bill Paxton ) . Despite toilsome oeuvre and good design , Singh and Patel , along with their translator / aspiring baseball game coach Amit Rohan ( Pitobash ) , have a difficult fourth dimension adjusting to lifespan in America - especially when J.B. ’s pursuit becomes divided by the prospect of sign up a triple - a NFL client . Unsupported by the human being who plucked them out of a small Native American village , Singh and Patel set about to stagger - forcing J.B. to opt between losing impatient investor and ply the shoot for player with the proper care they each want to succeed .
TheMillion Dollar Armstory was bring to the big CRT screen by the gifted pairing of writer Thomas McCarthy ( Win Win ) and director Craig Gillespie ( Lars and the Real Girl ) . As with any " base on honest events " celluloid , Gillespie and McCarthy remold aspects of therealstory to increase entertainment time value and drama for moviegoers - as well as drive home several not - so - subtle report . The event is a harmless feel good film that is heighten by gain ground performance from its Native American star . Still , Million Dollar Armdoes little to differentiate itself from standardized tales of down - on - their luck / cold - hearted sports manager that are made better through a kinship with one or two eccentric or challenging clients . As a resultant , Gillespie ’s cinema should fulfil sports fans but chance viewers looking for fresh graphic symbol drama will potential findMillion Dollar Armto be a touching but ultimately forgettable lookout man .
At time , the narrative is engrossing - especially the component that actually takes station in India . Gillespie captures a fresh energy during J.B. ’s head trip overseas that makes theMillion Dollar Armstory distinct and reminiscent - until the plot returns to the concrete jungle of Los Angeles . Once back on American grease , McCarthy ’s narration locks into a conventional tug of state of war between " the mickle " and " the meat " as J.B. regresses into ego - serving snobbishness - with only ostentatious girlfriend next room access Brenda Fenwick ( Lake Bell ) to call him out for uncaring discourse of Singh and Patel . Moviegoers who have see interchangeable setups before should easy predict how theMillion Dollar Armwill act out , and while prime scene provide fun fish out of water consequence and uplifting revelation , Gillespie never recapture the sprightliness of his first half - failing to deliver new penetration to the genre .
In spite of a formulaic fictitious character arc , Jon Hamm tries to build from his well - screw role as Donald Draper ; unfortunately , the similitude between hisMad Menad man andMillion Dollar Arm ’s ego - centered sports management executive , does not bring home the bacon a set of way for growth . Hamm breaks loose in a few notable minute , injecting a believable tenderness into J.B. that aid differentiate him ; yet , even with a serviceable operation , it ’s laborious for Hamm to overcome the fibre ’s thin motivations and rouge - by - numbers journey from self - absorbed jerky to altruistic family humanity .
Luckily , McCarthy and Gillespie circumvent Hamm with charming abide carrying out - led byLife of Pistar Suraj Sharma as Rinku andSlumdog Millionaire ’s Madhur Mittal as Dinesh . Sharma is responsible for many ofMillion Dollar Arm ’s endearing drollery beats , such as a newfound obsession with pizza pie , while Mittal is a unruffled but attentive reflection of the couplet ’s growing frustration with J.B. Together with translator Amit Rohan ( Pitobash ) , the three Indians are by far the most developed and interesting character in the movie . While Gillespie understandably set out to tell the account of a cold - hearted byplay Isle of Man who discovers family and love through a ethnical collision , the good scenes ( and most impactful exchanges ) get courtesy of the film ’s non - American actors .
Along with brief appearances from Alan Arkin and Bill Paxton , among others , Lake Bell ( as pool house renter / making love interest Brenda ) and Aasif Mandvi ( as J.B. ’s business married person Ash ) fill out out the principle cast . Both are kick downstairs to mostly one - note sounding boards for Hamm - where Ash is tasked with ( politely ) call into question any of J.B. ’s more controversial decisions while Brenda tries to help J.B. see a life beyond profligate car and gamey - pressure deals . Fans who recognize the performers from their panoptic comedy resumes may be disappointed to see that Bell and Mandvi play their parts with straight ( albeit entertaining ) faces , creating opportunities for Hamm to remind viewers that J.B. is acquire ( even if he trip up along the way ) .
Million Dollar Armfeatures a stiff cast , an accomplished film writer , and a timber conductor - who in the end deliver a square but unremarkable sports play . Viewers will be touch by sure characters and scene more than others but the film never outright fails in its intention . It ’s a heart - warming and fun ride that grow awareness for a tale that many moviegoers may not have follow at the time . That said , for a moving-picture show that praises risk taking and out of the box seat thinking , Million Dollar Armplays its tale surprisingly safe .
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Jon Hamm, Madhur Mittal, Suraj Sharma, and Pitobash in ‘Million Dollar Arm’
Million Dollar Armruns 124 minute and is Rated PG for mild terminology and some significative content . Now playing in theaters .
Let us know what you intend of the film in the comment section below .
Million Dollar Arm is a biographic sports drama directed by Craig Gillespie . The film stars Jon Hamm as sports agent J.B. Bernstein , who devises a plan to regain baseball pitching gift in India through a reality show competition . The movie travel along Bernstein ’s journeying as he brings two immature cricket players , Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel , to America in Bob Hope of making them Major League Baseball ’s first Indian pitchers .
Lake Bell as Brenda and Jon Hamm as J.B. in ‘Million Dollar Arm’
Madhur Mittal as Dinesh and Suraj Sharma as Rinku in ‘Million Dollar Arm’
