Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: Sports

Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Million Dollar Arm - Review

Million Dollar Arm
(2014 - May 16)
Biography | Drama | Sport
2 hr. 4 min.

Rated: PG | Mild language with some suggestive content. Read more
Grade: A-

Director: Craig Gillespie
Writer: Thomas McCarthy (screenplay)
Stars: Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Alan Arkin | See full cast and crew

Based on a true story, Disney's "Million Dollar Arm" follows JB Bernstein, a once-successful sports agent who now finds himself edged out by bigger, slicker competitors. He and his partner Aash (Aasif Mandvi) will have to close their business down for good if JB doesn't come up with something fast. Late one night, while watching cricket being played in India on TV, JB comes up with an idea so radical it just might work. Why not go to there and find the next baseball pitching sensation? Setting off for Mumbai with nothing but a gifted but cantankerous scout (Alan Arkin) in tow, JB stages a televised, nationwide competition called "Million Dollar Arm" where 40,000 hopefuls compete before two 18-year-old finalists, Rinku and Dinesh (Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal), emerge as winners. JB brings them back to the United States to train with legendary pitching coach Tom House (Bill Paxton). The goal: get the boys signed to a major league team. Not only is the game itself difficult to master, but life in the U.S. with a committed bachelor makes things even more complicated-for all of them. While Rinku and Dinesh learn the finer points of baseball and American culture, they in turn teach JB the true meaning of teamwork and commitment. Ultimately, what began as a purely commercial venture becomes something more and leads JB to find the one thing he was never looking for at all-a family. (c) Walt Disney Pictures

Neither am I a baseball or a cricket fan but this looked like an interesting story to me. There are obvious comparisons to the 1969 Tom Cruise film 'Jerry Maguire', which I must confess, I could never sit through although I started to several times. Perhaps after Million Dollar Arm I might try again. I really liked this film. I enjoyed seeing the stunning India locations. Then there were the intriguing depictions of the bleak surroundings the dearth of opportunities that were the future for the Million Dollar Arm contestants. A stunning reminder of why their life changing dreams of winning was so important. This is the true story of those dreams coming to life. This is somewhat more interesting to me than a fictional Jerry Maguire.

Cast

Jon Hamm Madhur Mittal Suraj Sharma

JB Dinesh Rinku

Alan Arkin Lake Bell Bill Paxton

Ray Brenda Tom House

Pitobash Aasif Mandvi

Amit (Deepesh Solanki) Aash

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Draft Day - Review

Draft Day
(2014 - April 11)
Drama | Sport
1 hr. 49 min.
Rated: PG-13 | Brief strong language including a few of the "F" and its variations and sexual references. Common Sense Media says: Nothing too risque. Ok for teens if the language isn't an issue for you. Read more
Grade: B-
Director: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Scott Rothman, Rajiv Joseph
Stars: Kevin Costner, Chadwick Boseman, Jennifer Garner | See full cast and crew

On the day of the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver (Costner) has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he's willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL.

Ivan Reitman's Draft Day stars Kevin Costner as Sonny Weaver Jr., the GM of the Cleveland Browns. With 13 hours until the beginning of the NFL draft, Sonny is informed by the team's owner (Frank Langella) that if Sonny doesn't make a splash and generate ticket sales, he's going to be fired. That prompts the GM to take a trade offer from another team that gives him the first pick in the draft, in exchange for three future first-round picks.

The move outrages the Browns' head coach, and forces all of the team's scouts to dig up what they can find about the pick everyone, including the owner, expects them to make -- a highly touted QB from Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Weaver is drawn to a talented linebacker who has family issues to deal with and is known for having a hot temper. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

I am not a big football fan so I dreaded sitting through this film. Surprisingly, this is not a bad film. Not a great film but not too bad either. It held my interest throughout (and that was five min. after my screening of Oculus so I could have been experiencing movie fatigue but I found myself intrigued). Perhaps part of that is because this football film does not take place on the field, bur almost entirely inside GM offices...on the phone...yeah, sounds like a boring premise right? Nonetheless, they manage to pull it off.

Kevin Costner delivers a fine performance as does most of the cast. Chadwick Boseman doesn't get anywhere near the screen time he had as Jackie Robinson in '42',

but don't cry for him, he'll get plenty more in the upcoming James Brown bio-pic 'Get On Up' opening August 1. I don't know if its that I wasn't thinking about him but I didn't even recognize Tom Welling (Smallville, Judging Amy, Cheaper By The Dozen 1 and 2).

Football fans will likely enjoy the plethora of cameo appearances from their team favorites who play themselves in the film, or the fantasy football and statistics fever aspects of the NFL Draft.