MILLION DOLLAR ARM Review

Walking into something like Million Dollar Arm you know exactly what you're going to get and so you are likely fine with that because you're choosing to walk into it in the first place. One may see the trailer for it and think it is worth giving a shot because the story seems interesting and heartfelt (plus it's based on a true one, so that's always a bonus) and it was made by Disney, a prominent feature in all the advertising as well as the fact it comes from the producers of Miracle and Invincible, so it is a safe bet there is nothing truly offensive but rather material that is inspiring and wouldn't hurt to take the children to if you feel like going to the movies, but not sitting through an animated flick or one of the several comic book movies out at the moment. It makes sense, but when it comes down to it that is all Million Dollar Arm ever really feels like, alternative programming. That being said there isn't anything necessarily wrong with the film given the way it has been chosen to be told or how it is executed except for the fact that it is about twenty minutes shorter than those other comic book movies crowding theaters right now yet still feels twice as long, especially in the second hour when we better know the formula of where the movie is going and instead of delving into the highlights and lowlights of those spaces in time, director Craig Gillespie (Fright Night, Lars and the Real Girl) seems forced to make things fit squarely into the archetypes of all the inspirational Disney sports drama that have come before it. Screenwriter Tom McCarthy (a truly talented writer and director) knows how to make a film interesting and fresh while keeping things quirky while at the same time dealing with as universal a topic as sports (please take a look at his 2011 film Win Win) but here it seems he is more a writer for hire that was brought in to get this real-life story down on paper that would appease the board at the Mouse House and create a nice, safe starring vehicle for an almost done with TV Jon Hamm. Again, no offense to be taken anywhere around this project (they even find the time to acknowledge what could be considered slight racism) and there are actually several moments of nice realizations, intimate portraits and interesting facets about the world of baseball, but as a whole the final result leaves us not with a Remember the Titans-like feeling, but something closer to that of The Greatest Game Ever Played; remember that one? That's what I thought.  

First Trailer for MILLION DOLLAR ARM

I saw the first trailer for Disney's Million Dollar Arm in front of American Hustle the other day and while I was surprised by the fact the trailer was for a film I'd not previously heard of it became clear fairly quickly exactly what type of film this was. There is nothing wrong with making the inspirational sports story into a film and sometimes they turn out rather well. I enjoyed both previous films in the same vein quoted on the poster (Miracle and Invicible) but have yet to re-visit either of them since their initial release. Like those films Million Dollar Arm puts a strong leading actor in the midst of extraordinary circumstances within the sports world and plays out in predictably inspirational fashion that has our protagonist revolutionizing the way people look at the conventions of major league competition. While I won't be highly anticipating Million Dollar Arm I will be more than pleased to sit down in a theater and experience what the film has to offer. Jon Hamm plays a sports agent who, after hitting rock bottom, travels to India and set up a televised game show to scout the top cricket players in the country and see if any of them have what it takes to make it in the major leagues. The script was written by Tom McCarthy (Win Win) and directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl). Million Dollar Arm has a strong supporting cast as well that includes Lake Bell, Bill Paxton, Aasif Mandvi, Alan Arkin, Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi), Madhurt Mittal (Slumdog Millionaire) and opens May 16, 2014.

THE INTERNSHIP Review

Going into a movie like The Internship you already know what you're going to get and if you have convinced yourself of what this will be and have set your expectations to a certain level then this PG-13 comedy of misfits will have you more impressed than those initial standards might have inclined you to believe. I personally am a big fan of the people involved here and would have welcomed a Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson reunion much sooner after their 2005 runaway hit Wedding Crashers, but instead of going for the easy way out and continuing to team up with one another these guys ultimately decided to stray from their core comedy group altogether. Sure, Vaughn made a few with his little crew of friends that include Jason Bateman, Peter Billingsly, and Jon Favreau, but he also made one too many Christmas-themed movies and didn't fully take advantage of the opportunity that Wedding Crashers ultimately afforded him. Wilson has had similar troubles as of late not starring as a leading man in a genuine hit since 2008's Marley & Me. He has gained more credibility after the success of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, but his mainstream efforts like Hall Pass and The Big Year didn't do much to keep his name strong in the genre he became most notable for. Granted we are no longer in the first five years of the new millennium and efforts like Old School, Zoolander, Starsky & Hutch, and Dodgeball are now relegated to a time long past, but nonetheless I've always enjoyed watching these guys individually and the one time they teamed up prior will forever be a point of nostalgia, so I was more than open and willing to give The Internship a fair shot. Maybe it was because the trailers weren't too impressive, maybe because I expected it to receive a lukewarm reception, or maybe because I finally admitted to myself these guys are getting older and a time will come when they no longer make broad comedies and that this may in fact be the nail in the coffin, but whatever it was I came out more pleased with the film than I ever expected. Maybe these guys have a little more to give after all.