Million Dollar Arm

''Million Dollar Arm'' is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel who were discovered by sports agent J. B. Bernstein after winning a reality show competition.

The film stars Jon Hamm as J. B. Bernstein, Bill Paxton as pitching coach Tom House, Suraj Sharma as Singh, Madhur Mittal as Patel, and Alan Arkin. The film's music is composed by A. R. Rahman. Produced by Joe Roth, Mark Ciardi, and Gordon Gray, the film was released theatrically on May 16, 2014. ''Million Dollar Arm'' grossed $39.2 million.

Plot

J. B. Bernstein is a big-time sports agent who, along with his partner Ash Vasudevan, recently formed their own company. Unfortunately, all of J. B.'s clients have retired, and he is unable to reel in star football player Popo Vanuatu. Desperate to find new clients, J. B. realizes India, with over one billion people, has real potential for untapped baseball talent. He approaches investor Mr. Chang with his proposal—a talent contest staged in India called "Million Dollar Arm." Contestants score points by demonstrating they can pitch a baseball with speed and accuracy. Along with the prize money, two winners will be flown to the U.S. and receive coaching to become legitimate baseball prospects within two years. Chang commits to providing the funding, on the condition the prospects are ready within only one year. With no alternative, J. B. reluctantly assures Chang the winners will be ready for a major-league try-out within one year.

J. B. approaches veteran baseball pitching coach Tom House who explains that cricket, the main sport played in India, and baseball have very different motions for bowling and pitching, and getting a good recruit ready for a try-out in one year is extremely unlikely, if not impossible. J. B. points how House has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking up the challenge, and House agrees.

While Ash and Theresa, their assistant, hold down the fort in Los Angeles, J. B. flies to India. Despite support from Vivek, his guide in India, J. B. is bewildered by the traffic, the overcrowding, and the lax way Indians conduct business. He is joined by the curmudgeonly Ray Poitevint, a longtime major league scout, and hires Amit Rohan as his interpreter. After lengthy try-outs in numerous cities, two youngsters emerge as the winners — Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, and they are flown to the U.S. to begin their baseball training. The pair, who grew up in poverty in India and do not speak or understand English, are instantly overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of America, although Rinku immediately develops a liking for pizza. Things soon come to a crunch when they are detained by hotel security for messing with elevator emergency controls, inadvertently getting themselves stuck and setting off the fire alarm. J. B. is subsequently forced to invite them to stay at his home. For their baseball training, J. B. dumps the pair by House and his staff while he runs off to close more deals. In being treated so, the pair feels like social outcasts. J. B.'s tenant Brenda Fenwick is the only person who genuinely seems interested in their well-being.

When J. B. takes the boys and Amit to a party thrown by Popo, whom J. B. hopes to sign, things get worse when Amit gets drunk after accidentally drinking a margarita mistaking it for punch while Rinku becomes sick from overeating and as a result, both vomit on J. B.'s windshield, forcing an enraged J. B. to drive them home, and forfeit the deal with Popo, who signed with someone else. Brenda calms him down and makes him realize he is treating the two boys like a business deal. The next day, J. B., no longer able to afford the payments on his Porsche, trades it in for a Dodge Caravan and joins the boys for their prayers. Ignoring J. B.'s pleas of the two boys' lack of readiness, Chang insists his terms be fulfilled and the boys demonstrate their baseball skills one year from the time they arrived in the US. ESPN, ''Sports Illustrated'', and local media are joined by numerous major-league scouts to watch the boys pitch. The try-out is a complete disaster, as the pair is both very nervous and pitch without speed or control, failing to impress anyone. Chang is happy with Million Dollar arm success, but the two boys are done.

Brenda convinces J. B. that the boys be given another try-out. Chang refused to go along with it, and no scouts are interested in wasting their time on another fiasco. All hope is lost until Ray arranges for J. B. to meet the Pittsburgh Pirates head scout who was away in Puerto Rico for the first try-out, and agrees to come. Chang changes his mind and sees the second try-out of Singh and Patel. This time, J. B. insists the boys relax and have fun. The scouts are quickly impressed as the pair consistently deliver 90+ mph fastballs thrown accurately, and both are offered a contract by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cast

* Jon Hamm as J.B.
* Aasif Mandvi as Ash
* Bill Paxton as Tom House
* Suraj Sharma as Rinku
* Lake Bell as Brenda
* Alan Arkin as Ray Poitevint
* Madhur Mittal as Dinesh
* Pitobash Tripathy as Amit Rohan (Deepesh Solanki)
* Tzi Ma as Chang
* Darshan Jariwala as Vivek
* Greg Alan Williams as Doug
* Allyn Rachel as Theresa
* Rey Maualuga as Popo

ESPN personalities Jayson Stark, Karl Ravech

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