Movie Review: Million Dollar Arm – Now available on Blu-ray and DVD

I honestly don’t like baseball. I know this might come as a shock to many people but in my defense I grew up surrounded by baseball. My dad was an umpire for our local leagues and I spent a huge amount of time growing up at baseball games with my dad. I would go to watch my dad. I didn’t have any interest in any of the players on the team unless it was someone we knew. My sister was on the softball team (which he was also an umpire for) so I would cheer her on when I went to her games.

Baseball was always on TV in my home too.

I think I just had too much baseball in my life that it was “overkill”. That is why I don’t care for it much anymore.

To give you a better example, on a bus trip to Florida I noshed on a few bags of candy corn. By the time we got to Florida I was sick to my stomach from all the candy corn. I couldn’t even look at another candy corn. It’s been about 30 years since that trip and to this day I cannot eat candy corn, and I used to love that candy. Sometimes when you have too much of something you get turned off of it. I think that is what happened when it comes to baseball.

Disney’s film, Million Dollar Arm, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. I heard great things about the film and I wanted to see it for myself, despite the fact that it’s a baseball film. Actually I shouldn’t really say that. It’s a film with baseball in it, but I wouldn’t consider it a baseball film. The bulk of the film centers on the characters in the film, not the sport.

Check out the film’s trailer.

Million Dollar Arm stars Jon Hamm as JB Bernstein, a big time sports agent who has found himself struggling over recent years. In the past he signed big names like Emmitt Smith (Dallas Cowboys), Barry Sanders (Detroit Lions) and Curtis Martin (New England Patriots & NY Jets).

Things have not been going so well for JB. His latest attempt to sign a big name athlete fell through. Now he has to find the next greatest athlete to help put him back on top.

JB came up with an interesting idea one night when he was watching television. He decided to go to India and have a competition to find the next greatest pitcher whom he could represent and try and get a deal with a major league baseball team.

In India JB teams with with a man name Amit. Amit agrees to work for JB for free to help him find the next greatest pitcher.

They came up with the idea of the Million Dollar Arm Challenge to weed through thousands of hopefuls in order to find the best pitcher. After the competition JB finds two possibilities – Rinku and Dinesh.

JB flies the men back to the United States and hires a coach named Tom House (Bill Paxton) to train the pair.

Viewers can’t help but feel sorry for the young teenage boys who are uprooted from their tiny villages in India and “re-planted” in Los Angeles. Not only do they not speak English they are also unfamiliar with a lot of today’s modern conveniences. They are scared, loney and home sick. Thank goodness for JB’s next door neighbor, Brenda (Lake Bell), who does her best to make the newcomers feel at home.

This is not so much as baseball movie as it is a movie about the characters. I felt really bad for the young boys. I couldn’t imagine what they were going through.

Admittedly I wasn’t fond of the character of JB but later on when he seemed to mellow out a bit I found him a bit more enjoyable.

Jon Ham, Lake Bell, Bill Baxton and Alan Arkin are well known actors however I think it was Suraj Sharma (Rinku), Madhur Mittal (Dinesh) and Pitobash Tripathy (Amit) who really steal the show. The movie has heart and a lot of comedic relief too.

The scenery was pretty interesting too. Some of the shots in India were beautifu (Taj Mahal) and others were very sad and depressing (slums).

There are plenty of bonus features to add to this film.

Making-of Featurettes:

• Training Camp – Actors Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal faced the same daunting challenge that their characters Rinku and Dinesh did—learning how to pitch a baseball.
• Their Story – The real JB Bernstein, Rinku and Dinesh explore the legacy of the Million Dollar Arm contest and its impact on the lives and aspirations of children in India…and their own lives as well.
• Million Dollar Music by A.R. Rahman – The Oscar-winning composer (Best Original Score, “Slumdog Millionaire,” 2008) talks about creating music that encompasses two worlds—India and the U.S.

Alternate Ending

Deleted Scenes:

• “JB’s Problem”
• “Sold”
• “I’d Take Ten Dollars”

Outtakes

And more!

Look for Million Dollar Arm where ever movies are sold.

You can also “like” the film on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/milliondollararm) and follow DisneyPictures on Twitter (@DisneyPictures). You can also check out the film’s website and mobile Site at http://www.disney.com/million-dollar-arm.

Kimberly

*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.

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