Review of Million Dollar Arm (2014) by Daniel R — 21 May 2014

Million Dollar Arm May 16.

Initial Reaction: Not to be confused with Million Dollar Baby (as if that's a problem).

Main Characters.

JB Bernstein: He's a sports agent played by Jon Hamm.

Rinku, Dinesh: Two teenagers in India played by Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal.

Brenda: She's JB's next door neighbor played by Lake Bell.

Plot Summary.

Business isn't going well for JB - he can't find new sports stars to wheel and deal with the Major League Clubs. He tries to look all over the globe for the next pitcher, but most countries are "tapped out". In sheer desperation, he goes to India and put forth a challenge.

The challenge is that anyone old enough to pitch for the minors can try out to be a pitcher for a team in the US. All they have to do is pitch fast and accurately.

After several grueling try outs, he gets the two best applicants )Rinku and Dinesh), takes them back to America, and tries to shape them into powerhouse pitchers.

But those two newly pitchers have trouble with being strangers in a strange land.

SCORING.

Main Characters.

These three really are the center of the film. I like JB as a guy who's desperate to avoid going out of business, and I like the two new pitchers as teenagers who try to fit in a new culture - but have lots of trouble doing it.

But the big surprise for me is Brenda. She's not just there to be the romantic lead for JB - she gets in there and helps the teenagers out with their troubles. SCORE: 9.

Supporting Characters.

The guy who steals the show is a retired agent who can tell how fast a pitch is made just be listening to it (good thing too because he dozes off too much.) And the rest of the cast is good enough to holdup the script. SCORE: 8.

Plot.

This film was fun to watch - the tryout were really enjoyable. And it was entertaining to see how the teens fared in their attempt to fit in with the American crowd. But there are some parts which felt like they threw in just to artificially build up tension. SCORE: 6.

Originality.

This film does follow your standard underdog sports story (Will they make it onto a Major League Baseball team? Take a wild guess).

But the leading cast - as well as some supporting characters - make the trip really enjoyable and breathe new life into what could've been a stale story. SCORE: 7.

Violence Factor.

Nothing to see here - these guys know that fighting won't solve anything. SCORE: 8.

Other Moral Issues.

This film shows just how important it is not only to develop an athlete's ability, but also to nurture their humanity as well - especially when they're going through a really tough transition process. SCORE: 9.

Final Score (out of 60): 47 % Score: 78.33%.

It's really hard to make a unique underdog sports film, but this one has the characters to do it.