Million Dollar Arm is not really worth the money
After losing his last chance at a his only major client, JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) concocts a scheme to find baseball’s next great pitching ace as a last ditch effort to save his career. Hoping to tap into the last untouched market for baseball, India, JB hopes to find a young cricket pitcher that he can turn into a major league star. JB concocts a reality show competition called “Million Dollar Arm”, that with the help of investors he travels to India to launch with the help of a cantankerous but eagle-eyed retired baseball scout (Alan Arkin). The competition produces Dinesh (Madhur Mittal) and Rinku (Suraj Sharma), two 18 year old boys who have no idea about playing baseball, yet possess a raw talent for throwing a fastball. As the boys learn the finer points of baseball, JB, with the help of his pool house tenant Brenda (Lake Bell), starts to learn valuable lessons about teamwork, commitment and what it means to be a family.
Million Dollar Arm is a predictable and formulaic sports tale that happens to be based on a true story. A harmless tale that lacks any staying power, the film is almost forgettable immediately after exiting the theater, Million Dollar Arm wastes the talents of many talented people involved while producing the most plain and dull product it can. Most of the cast seem to be slumming here; Hamm tries his best despite the cookie cutter script but really has nothing to deliver. The normally reliable and talented Arkin, Bill Paxton and Lake Bell seem to be barely even attempting to produce anything, partially due to the script but also because they all look bored and uninterested for the duration of the film.
Is ‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone’ a magical night at the cinema?
Debuting in theaters this week is the new comedy from seasoned television director (30 Rock, Royal Pains, Law & Order) Don Scardino and comedy heavyweights Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone“. Wonderstone takes place in the apparently cutthroat world of Vegas magicians and uses the glittery background of Vegas to frame it story. The only question that remains is whether it’s funny or not?
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
Starring: Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi,Olivia Wilde, Jim Carrey, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini and Jay Mohr
Written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Buscemi), friends and partners since they were 10 years old, have ruled the Las Vegas Strip (more…)
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