Million Dollar Arm

3 Stars (out of four)

Another "Based on a true story" movie, Million Dollar Arm trades in on sentiment.  This is not a bad thing.  Disney is the undisputed master studio at manufacturing sentiment in a palatable way without condescension or a whiff of irony.  And that is what puts this movie a cut above the rest.

Million Dollar Arm starts like a low-rent Jerry MacGuire.  Jon Hamm plays JB, a sports agent, who with his business partner, left one of the largest sports agencies to set up a new, boutique agency.  They have fallen on rough times and cannot sign one star.  Realizing they cannot compete in established markets for new, young players, JB hatches a scheme to snag a young pitcher for US baseball from India.  They set up a competition in India to find a cricket bowler who can pitch as fast as a competitive US pitcher.  The search initially proves fruitless until they meet two young men, Rinku and Dinesh.  Now anyone who has seen this type of movie knows the basic plot.  They will train, have difficulty, lose once and come back in the end.  But the genius of this film is that that plot isn't what it's about.  It's about relationships and connecting and growing together.  Rinku and Dinesh are not much older than 17 in this film and they are taken from everything they've known and are thrust into a media circus with stakes they can't understand.  Bachelor JB's tenant Brenda (Lake Bell) tells him he needs to care about these kids and treat them like people, not a paycheck.  They aren't commodities and they're alone and scared.  JB starts to understand and gradually becomes a father figure to the boys.  He also begins a real relationship with Brenda, finally growing up from bachelorhood.

We've all seen variations of this story before, but in this movie, they are so deftly and smoothly woven together, it feels new again.  It is an entirely enjoyable story that just about anyone will love.  The earnestness of the whole cast, especially the Indian actors, is infectious and we grow to really love all them.  I am personally baffled as to why this film is a semi-flop, because it is absolutely charming and will put a smile on your face.  And if anyone doubts it's influence, most of the patrons on the showing I was in were Indian.  As the credits ran, the theater burst into applause, something I have rarely seen.  Considering the dreck this summer is peddling with crap like Transformers 4, I recommend you see this truly engaging and entertaining flick instead.  You'll be glad you did.