Adequate, against all odds, feel-good baseball flick for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Rating: 5/10 (30 September 2014)

After a hitherto very successful TV career, Million Dollar Arm was presumably supposed to do for John Hamm what Batman and Robin was supposed to achieve for a post-er George Clooney. It won't. It's certainly a far, far better film (though that in itself is neither hard nor a great selling point) but Hamm lacks the charm, charisma and versatility of Clooney (who overcame almost the biggest clunk of 1997) and Million Dollar Arm is neither good enough to be universally celebrated, nor bad enough to be derided. What Million Dollar Arm is, is a pleasant, feel good(ish), based-on-truth yarn in which Hamm plays an updated, slightly softer Don Draper.
In 2008, with a sports agency floundering against the tide of bigger competitors, JB Bernstein (John Hamm) is inspired by the emerging crop of TV reality shows and hits upon the idea of creating his own in order to save his business and make his mark; essentially becoming the Simon Cowell of baseball. He quickly realises the major flaw in his plan: baseball is pretty much covered in the USA and the big boys have snapped up anyone with any talent long ago.
What JB requires is an untapped market that doesn't know it needs baseball in its life. Enter India, the home of all things cricket. After an arduous search, JB selects two aspiring cricketers, Rinku Singh (Suraj Shama) and Dinesh Patel (Madhur Mittal), and whisks them back to America where he must work to transfer their skills to baseball, make their dreams come true and, in the process, find his own humanity.
There is nothing in Million Dollar Arm that we haven't seen countless times before, but because it carries before it a banner proclaiming 'This really happened' we forgive director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) for its predictability. It isn't necessary to know or love baseball to enjoy Million Dollar Arm any more than you needed to be a quizmaster to enjoy Slumdog Millionaire, but it in this case it probably helps. That said, Gillespie has carefully crafted a film to appeal to the Sunday afternoon feet up masses. It requires little thought, only moderate emotional investment and you know from the outset, though you may try to fool yourself to heighten the excitement, that all will work out well. Why else would Disney stump up the cash? Disney doesn't do failure!
There is much to enjoy but little to inspire or satisfy. The performances are adequate but predictably overshadowed by Alan Arkin's familiar irascible old-timer cameo. The romance is plinky plonk and the against all odds, triumph in the face of adversity plot engages but doesn't tug at the heartstrings like, say, The Blind Side.
There is nothing here to dislike vehemently, but perhaps that would make Million Dollar Arm a more memorable film. There just isn't anything on display to be really passionate about, good or bad. Save it for a rainy Sunday when the belly is too full for a hike across the moors.
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