Low key, but decent

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2014)

Had never heard of American Baseball reaching Indian shores before, but it apparently had, according to the true story this movie's based on. A good friend of mine also mentioned following it at the time, and making the connection while watching this one (where the hell was I, and what the hell was I doing?). :-).
A slice-of-life / rags-to-riches tale for the main protagonists, this is also a tale of (in-your-face, simplistic) redemption for the main character, who's a cad, conforming to the common perception of most agents. Yes! they're as 'beloved' as lawyers are, never mind 'Jerry Maguire'!
This one can't shake off that particular comparison, or others (more on one more later) and doesn't try to avoid those much. What Gillespie (Fright night remake, Lars and the real girl) gets right is his complete focus on the overarching theme, and the fish-out-of-water aspect to the entire thing, though the effect is not dramatic enough to shake off the overall TV movie low-budget feel.
It helps that this has been penned by Thomas (Tom) McCarthy, of 'Station Agent' and 'Visitor' fame, though this doesn't quite reach the heights those works did.
The sequences where they're scouting around for the various pre-final tryouts are glossed over, but contain a few nice tidbits, with Alan Arkin front-and-center. They're lightweight funny bits that are there to beat any tedium one might feel. Gillespie also tries to avoid many of the racist clichés that abound, and succeeds to an extent.
Lake Bell, as always, is a delight, but doesn't have anything substantial to do, as such.
Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi) has come a-ways, and the intensity he shows in his performance, with the limited scope provided, is quite impressive. Madhur Mittal, on the other hand, also playing against type, is required to keep it toned-down, and succeeds. In fact, one of the key reasons I feel this movie succeeds is from the strength of its performers. Hamm is serviceable though, and that's not his fault, for he's just playing a stock character, and its a walk in the park for an actor of his caliber. Other than Alan Arkin, the scene-stealer is Pitobash (Shor in the city and Dibakar Bannerjee's Shanghai), who's supremely effective in each one of his scenes. All of the actors respect the material, and do not try to belittle it in any way, performing their roles to the extent required. Aasif Mandvi's also one who gets another stock character, and does what he can with this thankless, yet beefy role. Darshan Jariwala, Bill Paxton (not many meaty roles these days - he chomped the scenery in '2 guns') and Tzi Ma do just fine, and its nice to watch them interact as well.
In spite of all the good things, however, this one could've been much, much more, and I'd rate it worth one watch, no more. Home viewing will also do just fine. And oh, for those wondering about another comparison - I'll watching anything with Clint Eastwood in it, but this one's much better than 'Trouble with the curve'.