Million Dollar Arm - C

Rated PG, 120 minutes

"Million Dollar Arm" is predictable, crowd-pleasing true-story Disney fluff

Walt Disney Pictures, in addition to making animated films for children, also enjoys finding inspiring, against-the-odds sports stories such as "The Rookie" and "Invincible" in hopes of cornering the family market as well. They've enjoyed modest success with these types of movies, and they've made another with the true baseball story "Million Dollar Arm," about a sports agent who goes to India to find Major League Baseball's next big thing. American sports agent J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) go to India seeking baseball pitchers, through a reality show called Million Dollar Arm. They find two Indians (Madhur Mittal and Shuraj Sharma) who they hope to transform into Major League Baseball players. Directed by Craig Gillespie ("Lars and the Real Girl") and written by Thomas McCarthy, "Million Dollar Arm" is a mildly entertaining and pleasant but overly calculated true-story that's not as near as inspiring as the real story of Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh, who were plucked from small towns in India and eventually signed with a Major League Team, all done "American Idol"-style. As the two wide-eyed young Indian boys who get their big break, Mittal (featured in "Slumdog Millionaire") and Sharma (the charming actor from "Life of Pi") are the most affecting and memorable, even with the dashing smile from "Mad Men's" Hamm and the crustyness of Alan Arkin as one of the baseball scouts. The central problem with some of these crowd-pleasingly true stories in the internet age is the ability to Google the story, essentially negating the need to see the movie. That is the problem with "Million Dollar Arm" as well. "Million Dollar Arm" is pleasantly inspiring in its own way, but if you Google it there's really no need to see the movie.

Wes's Grade: C