Million Dollar Arm

BAM, look who's back with another movie review!  My mom and I saw Million Dollar Arm today, and I just had to post about it.  So, I'm not a fan of sports (anyone who knows me is probably making a fake gasp of surprise right now), but I have to say I still enjoyed this baseball movie.  Of course it was about more than just the game of baseball, which I will now get into, while trying to stay away from spoilers.  Million Dollar Arm is based on a true story of how sports agent J.B. Bernstein recruits a couple of Indian boys named Dinesh and Rinku to learn to play baseball on a short time (and financial) budget.

The fish-out-of-water scenarios that ensue when Dinesh and Rinku first arrive to America were a source of multiple laughs; those scenes make the movie humorous, though not overly so and not in a particularly witty kind of way.  I really sympathize with Dinesh and Rinku, although frankly I did not like J.B. all that much for most of the movie.  But that's J.B.'s character.  He starts of as a playboy who only cares about business deals and continuing his comfortable bachelor's life, but he does shape up as the movie progresses (perhaps predictably, but I'm glad he redeems himself).  The most interesting part was that the romantic subplot between J.B. and his next-door neighbor Brenda is based on their real-life relationship.  I thought that was just mixed into the movie to make it interesting.  The movie's not a documentary, so obviously not all the details are accurate, but at the very least, J.B. and Brenda's relationship is.

There were a few really cool shots, especially when the boys are pitching, and the way those scenes were set up made me feel really tense/nervous for them.  The fall-down-get-back-up-again theme, paired with the message of family and working hard, come together for the inspirational story that I'm sure they were aiming for.  All in all, I don't have any real complaints about this movie and genuinely enjoyed myself despite it not being the typical kind of genre I go for.  You should check it out if you head to the theater any time soon.  Meanwhile, be on the lookout for my review of Maleficent, which I'll be seeing next Saturday with my family.