Million Dollar Arm

MPAA/ Content PG (AC)

Distributor  Walt Disney Pictures [2014]

Technical  2.35:1 35mm HD

Genres  DRA SPO BIO

Runtime  124 mins.

Cntry./Lang.  USA [English/ Hindi]

Budget $25M

 

 

CAST

Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Bill Paxton, Madhur Mittal, Suraj Sharma, Lake Bell, Pitobash, Darshan Jariwala, Tzi Ma & Alan Arkin

 

CREDITS 

Director: Craig Gillespie; Screenwriter: Tom McCarthy; Producers: Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray & Joe Roth; Director Of Photography: Gyula Pados; Production Designer: Barry Robison; Editor: Tatiana S. Riegel; Costume Designer: Kristen Leigh Mann; Music Composer: A.R. Rahman

 

THE SYNOPSIS

Los Angeles, 2007: Sports über-agent J.B. Bernstein (Hamm) and his partner Ash Vasudevan (Mandvi) are struggling to launch their new agency but cannot attain new clients. Depressed one night, JB flips channels on TV and comes across a talent competition and a cricket game—when he is suddenly inspired to search for talent in India! With Ash on board, they convince wealthy investor Mr. Chang (Ma) to invest in their new concept: Million Dollar Arm.

JB heads to India to recruit a pair of young men to pitch for professional baseball teams. He is aided by the benignly avuncular Vivek (Jariwala), a local guide; enthusiastic young coach Amit Rohan (Tripathy); and cranky, retired pro scout Ray Poitevint (Arkin). Travelling across India, they scout thousands of young hopefuls and narrow the contestants down to two potentials: Rinku Singh (Sharma) and Dinesh Patel (Mittal)…young men who have no knowledge of baseball, but the heart to give it their all.

Back in L.A., Million Dollar Arm gains traction when famed USC pitching coach Dr. Tom House (Paxton) is hired to train the boys within a tight 3-month window. Having to take in Rinku, Dinesh & Amit (who is now their interpreter) into his home when they are booted out of their hotel, JB must learn to open his heart to the boys and see them as more than just clients. He gets some much-needed guidance from pretty resident doctor/tenant Brenda Fenwick (Bell) in both humility and romance. He’ll need it, as they face insurmountable odds at turning the two boys into professional baseball players.

 

THE CRITIQUE

Swiiiiiiing batter batter batter swiiiiiiing batter!! Sprinkled with a healthy dose of curry spice, MILLION DOLLAR ARM is a charming and gentle baseball fable based on true events. The Jerry Maguire (1996)-meets-Slumdog Millionaire (2008) hybrid is very much a Disney product (though originally set up at Sony’s Columbia Pictures) in execution & result—and that’s not a bad thing. It is safe, heartfelt and inspiring…and quite vanilla with a dash of cinnamon added!

Based on the amazing true story of sport agent J.B. Bernstein (who has represented sports icons Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith & Barry Bonds) and his creation & stewardship of a reality-TV show called Million Dollar Arm (with the help of his partners Ash Vasudevan & financier William Chang), the movie version does a good job of hewing close to many of the facts—courtesy of a straight-forward screenplay by fellow Jerseyite Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, Win Win, Up). Per the production notes, the screenwriter actually spent two weeks in India doing the research on Bernstein’s MDA endeavors. Again, due diligence in capturing the real people and a taste of Indian culture goes a long way—though true dramatic conflict suffers in the process. For more on the reel vs. real conundrum, check out the MILLION DOLLAR ARM page at the History Vs. Hollywood website.

Directed with earnest proclivity by Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock, Lars And The Real Girl, 2011’s Fright Night), it is indeed a well-oiled production. He is abetted by a solid cast led by Jon Hamm (a natural leading man), Asif Mandvi (amusing), Bill Paxton (taciturn but gentle), Lake Bell (brains & beauty) and the great Alan Arkin—playing the craggly, cranky mentor-type he can do in his sleep. Oh wait—he sleeps throughout half the picture!

The Indian cast is also on par, with nice turns by Mittal (heartfelt), Sharma (earnest), Tripathy (energetic) and Jariwala (charmingly benign). Per the production notes, Mittal and Sharma had no baseball experience—so they (just like their characters) were put through accelerated baseball training programs before production commenced. One of their first pitching coaches? The real Dinesh Patel himself.

Production values for this low/midrange, $25 million production (boxofficemojo.com) are actually top-shelf across the board. Principal photography began in India and lasted for three weeks as the crew traveled to different locations—up to and including the Mumbai metroplex and Agra—home to the Taj Mahal. Back in the USA, location shooting included Los Angeles, CA (where the majority of the movie takes place) as well as in Atlanta, GA—which stood in for most of the L.A. sequences in the 2^nd half of principal photography. Can’t beat that Georgia tax credit!

MILLION DOLLAR ARM exhibits a pleasant widescreen-lensing schema courtesy of veteran Hungarian cinematographer Gyula Pados (Basic Instinct 2, Evening, Predators, Metallica: Through The Never). Interestingly (and per American Cinematographer), the decision was made to shoot the Indian sequences on film via the Super 35mm format (using the ARRICAM Studio & ARRICAM Lite as well as the ARRI 235 & 435 camera packages) while the US-based sequences on HD digital via the ARRI Alexa XT & ARRI Studio XT camera packages. Metaphorically, it works—as the contrast in lensing formats mirrors the contrasts of nations/cultures/norms of India and the USA. The former lensing schema is realized by a palette of earthy browns and greens via 35mm film’s robust qualities while the latter’s delineated HD qualities showcase both the modern facets of the big city (Los Angeles) as well as the hard, business-like facets of the sports world and all that it entails.  At least that’s what I gleaned from the cinematography!

Smooth cutting by veteran editor Tatiana S. Riegel (The Million Dollar Hotel, Lars And The Real Girl, 2011’s Fright Night, Bad Words), dichotomous East/West production design by veteran Californian Barry Robison (October Sky, Hidalgo, Wedding Crashers, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), dichotomous East/West costume design by Kriston Leigh Mann (The Pacifier, Lars And The Real Girl, TV’s Parks And Recreation) and a handsome/dichotomous East/West score by veteran Indian composer A.R. Rahman (Oscar^®-winner for Slumdog Millionaire; also scored 127 Hours, Elizabeth: The Golden Age). Notice all the dichotomy MILLION DOLLAR ARM has to offer!!

THE BOTTOM LINE

With plenty of gentle charm and spirit, MILLION DOLLAR ARM is a feel-good movie that scores a base hit.  While it won’t earn the accolades reserved for the masterpiece baseball movies of yore, this one certainly merits a spot in the dugout.  It’s nice to see that a biographical movie based on real events hews closely to what really transpired—at least I won’t have to sit through the seventh-inning stretch (read: hokey TV documentary) on this one!  Heyyyy swiiiiiiing batttttttttter!!

 

 

 

IMDB:                    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1647668/

Wikipedia:             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Arm

Official Site:          http://movies.disney.com/million-dollar-arm