Million Dollar Arm

It's that time of the year again, the best sports time of the year! For the sports fan in your life, there's March Madness mixed in with the home stretch of both the NBA and NHL regular seasons before the playoffs begin. What am I forgetting? Hmm, I'm drawing a blank. Oh, right! It's baseball season! If that isn't as good a time as any for a baseball-themed movie, I don't know what is. I missed it in theaters last year, but here's 2014's Million Dollar Arm.

A longtime sports agent with a solid reputation, J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) has hit a bit of a rough patch. Check that, an EPIC rough patch. The firm he started with a friend and fellow agent has lost almost all of its clients, most of them to retirement, others for various other reasons. The money is running out quickly and the threat of completely losing his business is becoming more and more likely.  He's got to come up with something unique and by pure, dumb luck, J.B. might be onto something. Watching cricket one night, the agent begins to question if he could turn a cricket player from India with no baseball experience into a major league baseball pitcher. It sounds crazy, but maybe just perfectly crazy enough to work. He finds a sponsor who gives him an impressive budget and just a year with which to make the transformation. Traveling to India with limited time, can J.B. pull it off?

Over a two or three-month span last year, I saw the trailer for 'Million' in front of every single movie I saw. EVERY movie. Inevitably, whoever I was with would usually say 'Hey, that movie looks like you.' I took it as a compliment. Sports? Yes, I approve. Baseball? Yep, my favorite sport. Underdog story based on a true story? Yes and Yes, count me in. I enjoyed this movie after a somewhat slow start. Is it anything particularly new or groundbreaking? That would be a big N-O. Still, if you like sports movies, you'll get a kick out of this one.

From director Craig Gillespie, 'Million' is in fact based on a true story, the real-life Bernstein developing his reality contest dubbed 'Million Dollar Arm.' If I have any recommendation, it's this; don't read into the story that inspired the movie. Go in with a clean slate and enjoy the screenplay as it develops. I don't want to go into too much detail, but there is a cookie-cutter feel to the underdog sports movie. It covers a lot of ground and feels a little forced at times but never goes too far overboard. It's the type of story you wouldn't believe if you didn't know it was based in reality. From California to an extended trip to India and then back to sunny California and Arizona, 'Million' is a solid, good, old-fashioned sports flick. Nothing less. Nothing more.

Now as it heads into its final season, I'll admit I've never seen an episode of AMC's Mad Men. Therefore, I don't have a huge background with Mr. Don Draper himself, Jon Hamm. I thought he was very good in The Town but that's about the extent of my knowledge. How about here as agent J.B. Bernstein? It's a good part, not a great part, the character limited by a script that sticks to the cliches when the chips are down. Hamm's Bernstein's is a single, smooth, charming ladies man who finds his single life thrown upside down when his business starts to struggle. We try to humanize him through normal, attractive, perfect fit for him even though he can't see it renter of his backyard bungalow, Brenda (Lake Bell in adorable, every girl mode). This possible love interest teaches him to feel, to be nice to people, to not always look out for himself. Yeah, it's that type of subplot. So while it isn't always Hamm's fault, it does become an issue.

So six paragraphs in, you might think this is going to be a negative review (It sure reads like one). I liked this one a lot, but not because of the Bernstein character who I found generally unlikable. If more focus would have been placed on the Indian cricket players, I think the movie becomes that much stronger. We meet Rinku (Suraj Sharma, of Life of Pi) and Dinesh (Madhur Mittal), two young Indian men with no real baseball experience who are athletically inclined enough they can throw a baseball semi-accurately around 85 mph. Transplanted to America because of that skill, it is the definition of a fish out of water story. With some help from a baseball-loving translator, Amit (Pitobash), who travels with them, they try to adjust, try to learn English and baseball and a new culture, not exactly an easy thing to pull off. In these moments, the movie is at its strongest.

A movie through the boys' eyes would have been fascinating. Instead, we get a movie about the boys through the eyes of J.B.. It is a formula that works, but the story could have been stronger with some tweaks here and there. I really liked Bill Paxton as Tom House, the USC pitching coach trying to introduce the boys to all the nuances of American baseball, and also liked Aasif Mandvi as Aash, J.B.'s friend and fellow agent. Alan Arkin isn't around for long other than to be a crotchety, curmudgeonly old man as Ray, an experienced baseball scout who's past his prime but still has the eye for that special talent. Also look for Darshan Jariwala as Vivek, J.B.'s office manager of sorts who introduces him to all the ways of doing business in Indian fashion.

'Million' does have some surprises up its sleeve in the second half, and things definitely pick up for the better as a potential tryout with MLB scouts approaches. Yeah, there are too many moments that are for the Disney-crowd, family and all that sugary sweet stuff. Still, it is a tried and true formula that when handled correctly....man, it just works. If you like sports movies, you'll like this one. Remember to stick through the credits as we see the real J.B., Rinku and Dinesh in some great pictures. I like Sharma and Mittal a lot, the two actors able to humanize their parts without resorting too much to any sports cliches. Nothing flashy but a good movie just the same.

Million Dollar Arm (2014): ***/****

Bridesmaids

For almost 40 years now, Saturday Night Live has consistently produced comedic actors that have gone on to bigger and better things. John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell and many more. But lost amidst all the funny guy comedians have been the female comedians. They're fewer and far between though, but of the last 10 years or so the female cast members have stepped to the forefront, especially Kristen Wiig who wrote and helped produce 2011's Bridesmaids.

In her mid 30s, Annie (Wiig) has hit a low-point in her life. Her self-started bakery has closed in the recession, she lives with a creepy British brother and sister, her car is a piece of junk, and she hates herself for being a hook-up buddy with Ted (an uncredited Jon Hamm). Her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), has gotten engaged and asks Annie to be her maid of honor. Annie definitely wants to take the role, honored by the question, but the task and responsibility might be a little too much for her to handle, especially when Helen (Rose Byrne), Lil's new friend, threatens to take over. Hopefully Annie can keep it together until the wedding.

I'm going to get this out of the way early. I liked Bridesmaids, but I didn't love it. I think it was intentionally mis-marketed to look like a girls version of The Hangover, and it really isn't. Part of the humor maybe I missed because I'm a guy (not to sound sexist), but I definitely feel like I missed some of the laughs/situations. As one IMDB reviewer pointed out -- and I tend to agree -- this is a chick flick disguised as a raunchy comedy. It's still good, but not as good as I was hoping. Wiig's script with Annie Mumolo (who makes a funny cameo) is well-written, but the movie isn't quite what it was made out to be. Funny, but not the instant classic it was made out to be.

Working together like the Wolfpack of The Hangover, Wiig, Rudolph and Byrne lead a strong group of female comedians. Dating back to their days on SNL, Wiig and Rudolph have a good chemistry together that doesn't feel like acting, just two legitimate friends doing some lines together. Byrne's Helen is the late-comer to the party, a rich, snobby woman who's the wife of Lill's husband's boss (there's a mouthful for you). The rivalry does produce some solid laughs, one woman trying to out-do the other. The group also includes Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), a mother of three who desperately wants to escape her home life, Becca (Ellie Kemper), the newlywed discovering all the "joys" of marriage, and Megan (Melissa McCarthy), Lil's off-the-wall, brutally honest future sister-in-law. Each character is different, adding a dynamic to the group, each given a chance to get their fair share of laughs.

Certain parts of the movie are truly funny, hilarious stuff that had me crying. Okay, one scene, but you get the point. What works, really works. McCarthy as Megan earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, maybe a stretch, but she's the best thing going for this one. She is the rare physical female comedian, not afraid of her weight or size and willing to commit for the laughs. The dress fitting scene post-Brazilian restaurant -- uh-oh, food poisoning! -- is bathroom humor, but it is hysterical in its execution, especially thanks to McCarthy's response. A flight to Vegas for the bachelorette party takes a turn for the worse, Wiig's Annie struggling with the situation and her fear of flying while Megan is sure the passenger (Ben Falcone) is an Air Marshal. These two extended bits rise above the rest, followed closely by Annie's freak-out session at the shower, and bring the most laughs.

It's too bad there couldn't have been more of that humor, the big laughs. Instead this rather long comedy -- at 125 minutes -- decides to go down a not so funny route in the second half. The story goes doom and gloom as Annie starts to pout and freak out about her life situation. And with it, the laughs come to a screeching halt. The story focuses more on her flirting relationship with dream Irish cop, Nate Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd), which feels like any number of romantic comedies you can see elsewhere. Oh no, chick flick alert! It feels like it's been done before, getting away from what made earlier parts of the movie truly funny. Wiig is a very funny and talented actress, but this mid-life crisis the story delves into is disappointing.

Still funny -- sometimes very funny -- but not quite what it was made out to be. And good luck to McCarthy, one of the rising stars in comedy, at the Oscars. I'm sick of hearing about The Help. Bring home a win for Plainfield! The trailer below seems to have a lot of cut scenes too FYI.

Bridesmaids <---trailer (2011): ** 1/2 /****

The Town

I don't really know what happened to Ben Affleck around 2002, 2003.  It was somewhere in there with his relationship with Jennifer Lopez and his part in Gigli that his rising star took a big tumble.  Too bad because the guy definitely had some talent as an actor.  Well in the years since he's been working his way back up, and hopefully with his latest work as both actor and director pays off for him in 2010's The Town.

The movie comes from one of my favorite genres, the heist movie, and more than that...the last job!  It's the premise that a specialist like a robber, thief, crook, hit man, mercenary has been doing what he does for years, and he's fed up with it.  For whatever reason -- favors, guilt, money -- the man agrees to take on one more job before he rides off into the sunset.  This is a story idea that goes across genres, but it works so well with heist movies.  For just his second movie as a director, Affleck does a solid if unspectacular job with a story that is always solid if unspectacular.  It doesn't rewrite the genre conventions, but it does everything well, and that's all I'm asking for when I go see a movie.

A neighborhood in Boston named Charlestown is infamous for its production of bank and armored car robberies with hundreds of such robberies taking place every year.  One native Bostonian, Doug MacRay (Affleck), leads a crew with his hot-wired childhood friend Jim 'Gem' Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), taking down banks and armored cars after weeks of meticulous planning. One robbery doesn't go exactly as planned and Jim takes a hostage, a bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall), who they allow to let go soon after. Doug arranges to bump into her to see if/what she knows about the robbery but finds himself quickly falling for her and vice versa.  Can this situation ever work? And with an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) and his task force hot on Doug's crew, can they continue to work without being taken out?

Previewing the movie, one ridiculously stupid ad said The Town was "Heat meets the Departed" so basically the best ever heist movie vs. the best ever undercover thriller movie.  Yeah, good luck with those comparisons.  That said, it's not fair to compare this movie to either even if there are certain similar elements.  Affleck shoots in the streets to give the movie a gritty, authentic look to the story and provides some very cool Boston locations (more on that later) as a backdrop.  The heavy Boston accents can be hard to decipher at times, but you get into a rhythm with it eventually.  The story isn't anything groundbreaking, but it deals with characters and twists that are in a way...comforting, because we have seen this before.  It's all handled so well I didn't even mind though.

With comparisons to Heat and The Departed, I was a little surprised by the lack of action.  An opening robbery goes smoothly, a heist near the middle features a great chase through the narrow, claustrophobic streets of Charlestown, and the finale is the high point, a heist attempt at Fenway freaking Park for a take of over 3 million bucks.  It's hard to do something new or unique with a heist, but setting it in one of the most iconic sports stadiums ever was a genius idea from Affleck. The robbery and the fallout following is an extended sequence that lasts maybe 20 minutes, making up for any lack of action earlier in the movie.  Baseball fans will hopefully appreciate an inside look at Fenway Park in a very cool, very stylish final robbery/shootout.

Maybe more surprising than the lack of action is that the movie doesn't beg for seven or eight more shootouts and robberies.  It would be overkill.  But Affleck gets such good performances from his cast that it's a pleasure just watching them do their thing.  An underrated actor himself, Affleck is the going away star here as Doug, a generally good guy who got caught up in doing something that he's good at.  His childhood was anything but smooth, and he still suffers from some past demons.  His budding relationship with Hall's Claire is never sugary sweet, it's just a genuine bond between two people looking for some sort of normality, some sort of happiness.  They have a definite chemistry, and their final scene together did remind me of a similar scene at the end of Heat.  As the scene-stealer, Renner is phenomenal as Jim, Doug's childhood friend who always seems one step away from exploding.  It's an intense part and an impressive one that doesn't have him on screen much, but he dominates every time he's on the camera.

The cast goes much deeper than those three with Hamm in a thankless, unforgiving role as the FBI agent hunting down Doug's crew.  There's also Gossip Girl's Blake Lively in a surprising turn as Krista, Doug's old fling and sometime hook-up, Chris Cooper in a one-scene role as Doug's jailed dad, and Pete Postlethwaite as the Florist, the local mafioso who has his hand in everything, and Titus Welliver as Hamm's right hand man. I think an ultimate test for a movie like this with "bad guys" as main characters (and I've written about this before) is do you find yourself rooting for them to pull off the job, to get away in the end?  Maybe it's just my messed up barometer of morals, who knows.  The Town hits it head on because it makes these characters sympathetic through their flaws.  This isn't a classic, and I didn't love it, but it is a stylish, well-made heist movie with a great cast.  Definitely check this one out.

The Town <---trailer (2010): ***/****

The A-Team

In a continuing trend of why be original when you can duplicate past success, The A-Team hit theaters a few weeks ago and quickly started raking in the money.  Based off the popular 80s TV show of the same name, it's that perfect summer movie you can eat with piles of popcorn and a pop as big as your head.  I went in with moderate expectations having some knowledge of the show without actually seeing an episode although The Family Guy spoof was perfect. So anyways, strap yourself in for one-liners, lots of explosions and Liam Neeson being awesome.

When I reviewed The Losers in April, I mentioned how a stream of similar movies was hitting theaters this summer, a group of specialists taking on a job that seems nearly impossible.  Including 'Losers' and 'A-Team' there's also The Expendables and Takers coming out later this summer.  I've mentioned in the past how much I love these movies, and one has to be pretty bad for me not to recommend it at least partially.  The Losers started things off right, and A-Team is an incredibly similar movie with almost duplicate scenes in some cases.  Still, decide for yourself.

After eight years working together as a Special Forces team, Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith (Neeson) and his Alpha Team (hence A-Team) that includes Lt. Templeton 'Face' Peck (Bradley Cooper), B.A. Baracus (MMA fighter Quinton Jackson), and pilot Murdock (Sharlto Copley), are sent on a mission that ends up being a double cross.  They're court-martialed and jailed until a mysterious CIA agent, Lynch (Patrick Wilson) shows up offering to help them break out and find the real culprits.  The A-Team has to not only catch a privatized security force responsible, but the force also has a connection with counterfeited money plates that could flood the market with fake U.S. money.  All the while, government agent Sosa (Jessica Biel) is on their trail trying to figure out exactly what they're up to.

Director Joe Carnahan's last movie was 2006's Smokin' Aces, a mess of a movie that was a ton of fun to watch.  Big cast, lots of action, explosions all around, all that good stuff that makes a good popcorn movie.  The A-Team has all of that.  With one exception, the action is well-handled and thankfully steers clear of any ultra-fast quick editing that makes the action impossible to follow.  One early scene has the team taking down a heavily guarded convoy transporting counterfeit money through Baghdad.  It's a great scene, as are most of the action.  One assault on a building in downtown Berlin is packed full of great stunts, as is the ending in a shipping yard with an ambush waiting around every corner.  If action is what you seek, then you won't be disappointed here at all.

The A-Team casting is hit or miss with two parts working for me and two falling short.  Neeson as Hannibal is an inspired choice, and is another great move for the Irish actor who's been doing more mainstream work of late.  His Hannibal is smooth, highly intelligent, calm under fire and a master planner.  He's a great choice to fill George Peppard's shoes and one of the big positives to come out of the movie.  Same for MMA fighter Jackson who succeeds in making B.A. (Bad Ass) more than a stereotype.  Playing a role Mr. T made famous could be a little daunting, but Jackson passes with flying colors.  Same for Wilson as CIA agent Lynch, a smarmy, smart-ass who you just love to hate.  Brian Bloom is also solid as Pike, the security official responsible for setting the team up.

Now those are the positives of the casting.  I like Cooper as an actor, especially comedy, but I don't know if he was the right choice here to play Face.  He yells a lot, seduces women left and right, takes his shirt off for some strategically placed flexing, and I thought was generally pretty annoying.  District 9 star Copley gets what should be the funniest part as Howlin' Mad Murdock.  Here's something pretty basic though, if the movie's too loud to actually hear the one-liners it kinda defeats the purpose of having the one-liners.  That said, what lines I did hear were funny, but Murdock was too over the top for me.  Then there's Biel who god bless her, may be the most attractive government agent ever.  But she's not a great actress, and her background with Cooper's Face seems a little forced. Also look for Jon Hamm in a quick, miss it and you'll blink scene late.

Seeing this in theaters, the movie ended and I walked out thinking it was good, an average action movie that didn't leave much of an impression on me.  Then, the more I thought about it, I liked it more.  But now, most of a week since viewing the movie, I've got that empty feeling again.  I can't put my finger on it, but something was missing, some sort of energy.  My favorite part was definitely the beginning as the four members of the A-team meet on a mission south of the border.  The rest? It's good enough, but nothing spectacular.  There will be better summer movies and there will be worse.  A decent enough way to spend 2 hours.

The A-Team <----trailer (2010): ** 1/2 /****