Jon Hamm has a terrific salesperson persona. Partially because he’s beautiful, and partially because of his experience as Don Draper on AMC’s “Mad Men,” which Disney executives obviously caught wind of at some point between his first and 10th Emmy nomination.
Taking the chivalrous, though arrogant, Don and making him into a PG Disney character should then work, in theory. The newest movie to capitalize on the heartwarming feelings of the inspirational sports genre, “Million Dollar Arm” relies heavily on Hamm’s charm to coast its way through a divided story of two continents. With some fun supporting cast to back him up, the film’s efforts are not a complete failure, but also miss the mark of success by a few bases.
Hamm plays J.B. Bernstein, a down-on-his-luck businessman who, after breaking off from a large sports agency to start his own, desperately needs a client to keep his little corporation intact. He and his partner Aash Vasudevan (Aasif Mandvi) come up with a refreshingly unconventional plan: hold a contest in India, an untapped nation of potential athletes, to transform two cricket bowlers into American Major League Baseball pitchers.
Accompanied by Ray Poitevint (Alan Arkin), a less than enthusiastic baseball scout, J.B. goes through several Indian neighborhoods, without any luck, before finally striking big in a town of young jocks. The competition earns J.B. two victors, Dinesh Patel (Madhur Mittal) and Rinku Singh (Saruj Sharma), both of whom must travel to the States and learn to play baseball within the six months that J.B.’s boss has allotted.
Prior to the aspiring players’ trip across the Pacific, “Million Dollar Arm” feels like an entirely different story. J.B.’s trip through India, from bustling cities of immobility to open, unpopulated farmland to the Taj Mahal, is the most interesting portion of the film, edited with the stylistic gusto that live-action Disney works are known for. The proud, though sad, sentiments that Dinesh and Rinku’s parents give them as they leave their lives behind are fittingly touching scenes of familial warmth.
In contrast, the film’s second portion, which depicts the players’ daily training regimen with USC coach Tom House (Bill Paxton), focuses on J.B.’s life and trials to a hedonistic extent. A baseball film that’s supposed to be about baseball, “Million Dollar Arm” is much more centered on the business model.
It utilizes a couple healthy montages of the two athletes improving and having fun, accompanied by the beat of an inspired Bollywood soundtrack (Kendrick Lamar feature included). But at the end of the day, it isn’t about accuracy or pitching strength, it’s about happiness – the happiness of the man in the suit, especially.
So it’s not “The Rookie,” or “Miracle,” but “Million Dollar Arm” still has a fair amount of fun moments with the diverse cast assembled. Lake Bell, as a tenant in Hamm’s luxurious L.A. settlement, takes the opportunity to be feisty when needed, acting as the antagonist to J.B. when he is becoming too much of an antagonist himself. Bell, Mandvi and Pitobash, a Hindi actor who follows J.B. as an enthusiastic assistant, make the movie just a bit less flat and keep the ball rolling at a steadily enjoyable pace.
At the end of the day, “Million Dollar Arm” presents the journey to its uplifting finale as an amusing, off-kilter ride for everyone involved, despite being more committed to some individuals than others. It will inform you that the real J.B. now lives a happy, wholesome life, but not that the real Rinku is still pursuing his dream of winning a major league game.