Million Dollar Arm Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Million Dollar Arm Blu-ray Movie Review

From slumdog to dugout.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 6, 2014

There's no core difference between Million Dollar Arm and many of the other "true life" and "inspiring" Sports movies from the past couple of decades. Films like Invincible or We Are Marshall tell the same core story about overcoming odds and living dreams through the prism of athletic achievement, yet these sorts of movies keep audiences coming back for more. Even through the repetitive structures, transparent plots, predictable outcomes, and identical emotional pulls, the movies maintain a successful track record because people can identify with every element. It's because they're about the human will, about making something from nothing, about rising to the top, finding a way, seizing success from the grasp of failure, living a dream, and a whole lot of other cliché that, for once, really matters to people. Indeed, Million Dollar Arm operates on the same plane with the same mechanics, and it does so with grace, humor, heart, enthusiasm, and every other quality that elevate so many true-life Sports films to the top of a crowded heap. It's accessible and fun, structurally linear but thematically varied, emotionally satisfying and utterly pleasant. It's a classic example of its type and, yes, still works even if it's just rearranged and rebranded pieces of the same movie fans have seen before.

They have arrived.

JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) is a struggling sports agent who has, in the past, represented big-time talent like Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, and Curtis Martin. His latest "get" is a professional football player on the verge of breaking the single-season sacks record. JB has him all but talked into signing a deal with his agency, but when the athlete demands $1,000,000 up front, the deal falls through and he goes to a bigger, wealthier firm. JB's just about out of work and needs "the next big thing" to rekindle his fortunes. He finds that when channel surfing presents him with a unique idea: scour India for the best baseball pitcher, sign him, train him, and showcase him for Major League scouts. He travels to India where he partners with the energetic Amit Rohan (Pitobash Tripathy), a baseball fan who agrees to work with JB for free. After plowing through hundreds, if not thousands, of candidates in the "Million Dollar Arm" challenge, he finds two winners, Rinku Singh (Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh Patel (Madhur Mittal), whose throwing velocities and on-and-off control are enough to earn them a trip back to the States where they study under the tutelage of a washed-up player/coach named Tom House (Bill Paxton). Meanwhile, JB finds himself drawn ever closer to his neighbor, Brenda (Lake Bell).

Million Dollar Arm presents audiences with a nice balance of humor and heart, human interest storytelling, and national heroism on a big stage. The story isn't so much concerned with long-lasting success -- neither Rinku nor Dinesh have sniffed a Major League roster, and Dinesh is out of professional baseball altogether -- but instead rising to a challenge and seizing an opportunity, which again reflects basic Sports movie concepts and premises like that found in Rudy. This is not any different at its core, but it's done well to the point that baseball becomes secondary to all of the other goings-on throughout the film. It sometimes gets stuck on stereotype and playing to its audience rather than its story -- particularly as it involves the burgeoning romance between JB and Brenda that carefully grows into importance after feeling mostly tacked on for the first half -- but it finds some light humor through it all and a balance that the Indian characters provide as they in some ways facilitate JB's personal transformation from workaholic to a man who could see himself settling down with the right girl, just as he facilities his new friends' opportunities to pitch professionally (and, in the case of Amit, to vicariously live his dream through Dinesh and Rinku). In that way the movie is sort of a full-circle experience for all of the characters as they grow into the men destiny wants them to be, not the men the world had previously pushed into a role not exactly suited for them.

The ideas of fate only play lightly in the movie, and the magic comes not so much from out of the blue as it does out of the heart, out of determination, out of will, out of gentle nudges in the right direction, from inward and outward guidance and personal transformations for the better. The actors all sell it very well. Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal as Rinku and Dinesh are the film's best assets. Their characters aren't chatterboxes who talk their way to the top. Instead, the performances are more about that inner reach, commanding respect, burgeoning friendships, the awe-struck look of wonder as they explore their new lives, and the growing pressures that mount as they inch towards their performances for the Major League scouts. Pitobash Tripathy is terrific as Amit, a character who is, at first, little more than comic relief but who grows not so much out of that role -- he's funny until the end -- but who comes to understand his greater role in the story and who comes to truly define the entire film at the end. Jon Hamm is good, too, as the struggling yet slick sports agent whose brainchild sets it all in motion. His character evolution is much more subtle but no less important to the story, reinforcing the notion that success isn't defined so much by wins and lossless in the game of life but instead where one finishes the race. It's all done simply and sweetly. The film offers a solid, dependable arc that won't open eyes or even engage the brain all that much but that will soothe the soul and reinforce the idea that dreams do indeed come true, whether one never thinks he or she will ever realize that dream (Amit), live the real dream that exists behind the façade of life (JB), or seize an unimaginable opportunity in the blink of an eye, or better said, the velocity of a fastball (Rinku and Dinesh).

Million Dollar Arm Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Million Dollar Arm's 1080p transfer looks fine. It's not a stunner, but it is rather technically proficient in a straightforward manner. Details consistently satisfy. Image clarity is strong and revealing, but it frequently lacks that breathtaking, ultra-precise definition seen on the very best HD presentations. Here, everything is presented in good balance. Skin tones are detailed, clothing lines are well defined, and environments -- from crowded, run-down Indian inner cities to well-manicured baseball diamonds -- look fantastic. Colors, likewise, are natural and pleasant, never hot, never dull, just consistently accurate and pleasing to the eye, from bright green baseball field grass to assorted clothes and backdrops. Black levels sometimes take a slight push towards looking washed out, but never to excess. Flesh tones, on the other hand, are consistently accurate. This is a dependable, pleasing image. It's not the most pristine in existence, but it does the film and the format proud.

Million Dollar Arm Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Million Dollar Arm's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack carries the film's rather simple audio needs with commendable clarity and effortlessness. The track never requires the system to stretch or provide any sort of dynamic, dramatic listening environment. Clear, well-spaced, and nicely defined music, both score and popular selections, represent the track's maximum workload requirements. Light ambient effects are occasionally helpful in defining various environments, whether at Staples Center for an early basketball game scene or city din both in India and in the United States. Fastballs pop baseball mitts with enjoyable impact that mimics the real-life aural sensation. Dialogue delivery is clear and well-defined with natural center presence. Overall, this is a good, balanced track from Disney that performs to expectations.

Million Dollar Arm Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Million Dollar Arm contains a few featurettes, three deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and outtakes. A digital copy code is also included in the case.

• Training Camp (1080i, 6:18): Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal discuss the process of pitching and physical training for the film. Also interviewed is former minor league ballplayer Mike Ribaudo, who coached them, and Ahmed Yusug, who physically trained them.
• Their Story (1080p, 2:54): The real Rinku, Dinesh, and JB speak about their life-changing experiences.
• Million Dollar Music by A.R. Rahman (1080p, 2:34): The composer discusses his work on the film.
• Deleted Scenes (1080i): JB's Problem (0:44), Sold (0:55), and I'd Take 10 Dollars (0:40).
• Alternate Ending (1080i, 0:49).
• Outtakes (1080i, 2:04).

Million Dollar Arm Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

That neither Rinku nor Dinesh have yet to throw a pitch in the Major Leagues is beyond the point. Million Dollar Arm tells a satisfying core story of human growth through a bit of creativity, smiling fortunes, determination, and an understanding of how life works at both its highest points and lowest points. It's not all that different from other Sports films of the same nature, but it follows formula well and satisfies on all levels. Now that Disney has told the Rinku and Dinesh story, perhaps the company should look to another Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, John Holdzkom, for its next project. Holdzkom graduated from wild thrower in the independent leagues to pitching in the playoffs for the Pirates in the span of several months. His story is perfect for the formula. Disney's Blu-ray release of Million Dollar Arm features solid video and audio. Supplements are a little skimpy. Recommended.