Million Dollar Arm parents guide

Million Dollar Arm Parent Guide

Whether or not you're a baseball fan, "Million Dollar Arm" tells a great story with characters that make significant improvements -- and we're not just talking on the pitching mound.

Overall A-

A down-on-his-luck sports agent (Jon Hamm) takes a long shot to save his scouting career. He goes to India to recruit some fast-throwing cricket players with the hope of turning them into Major League Baseball quality pitchers. When he returns with two candidates (Madhur Mittal, Suraj Sharma) he ends up with more responsibility than career potential.

Release date May 16, 2014

Violence A-
Sexual Content B-
Profanity B
Substance Use C

Why is Million Dollar Arm rated PG? The MPAA rated Million Dollar Arm PG for mild language and some suggestive content.

Run Time: 124 minutes

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Parent Movie Review

J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) can’t help but worry. Despite his bravado in the office, he has to admit he and his business partner Aash (Aasif Mandvi) are living on the edge with no hope of saving their fledgling company. No hope that is unless they find a new athlete they can act as an agent for. (The real Bernstein represented Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith and Barry Bonds among others.) Unfortunately with players expecting big bonuses and hefty contracts, J.B. and Aash have a hard time getting anyone to sign with them.

However after seeing Susan Boyle’s appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, J.B. gets an idea. He proposes an unconventional contest of his own and arranges to take a baseball scout, a camera crew and all the equipment he needs to host a pitching competition in India. His intent is to find a cricket player that he can train to throw for a Major League Baseball franchise. Not surprisingly Mr. Chang (Tzi Ma), the man funding the contest, is skeptical. But he can’t afford to forgo on what may be the next big fan base to open up in the history of baseball.

With a tight time schedule working against him and an elderly baseball scout (Alan Arkin) that appears to sleep through the tryouts, J.B. hits the road, papering every town they stop in with flyers for the Million Dollar Arm contest.

True to the predictions of the naysayers, cricket players can’t pitch a baseball. But luckily J.B. stumbles upon a couple of javelin throwers, Rinku Singh (Suraj Sharma) and Denish Patel (Madhur Mittal), who can throw with remarkable speed even though they’ve never even seen a baseball before. After pronouncing the winners of the contest, J.B. and his team pack up the lucky lads and head back home to America. Thinking of the boys as little more than the source of his next paycheck, J.B. plunks the two impoverished teens and Amit (Pitobash), who serves as their interpreter, in the middle of a world they could have never imagined. Then he virtually ignores them after handing them over to coach Tom House (Bill Paxton) while he wines and dines other prospective contracts.

Unable to speak the language, forced to eat unfamiliar food night after night and suffering from terrible homesickness, the youths flounder in spite of their efforts to work hard for Coach House. It’s J.B.‘s tenant Brenda (Lake Bell) who finally steps in to pinch-hit for the errant J.B.

Whether or not you are a baseball fan, Million Dollar Arm tells a great story with characters that make some significant improvements over the course of time—and we’re not just talking on the pitching mound. Caught up in the glitz and glam of single life in a high stakes career, J.B. isn’t always likeable, especially when he treats Rinku and Denish as investments rather than human beings. Fortunately he raises his batting average in that department with some sideline coaching from Brenda.

The film contains a smattering of profanities, brief sexual comments and the depiction of alcohol use, including a couple of characters who inadvertently get drunk and then throw up. Yet the movie’s bigger problem may be J.B.‘s attitude toward women and some implied sexual activity. Fortunately that side story takes a back seat to the transformation of these young men, who go from hurling javelins to tossing curveballs with their million dollar arms.

Directed by Craig Gillespie. Starring Lake Bell, Jon Hamm, Bill Paxton, Alan Arkin. Running time: 124 minutes. Theatrical release May 16, 2014. Updated

Million Dollar Arm
Rating & Content Info

Why is Million Dollar Arm rated PG? Million Dollar Arm is rated PG by the MPAA for mild language and some suggestive content.

Violence: Characters argue briefly.

Sexual Content: A man makes some sexual comments. Sexual activity is implied between several characters. Some embracing and kissing is shown.

Language: The script contains infrequent scatological slang, terms of Deity, mild profanities, curses and some sexual innuendo.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters drink on several occasions at home, in a bar and in social settings. Some characters inadvertently get drunk at a house party.

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Million Dollar Arm Parents' Guide

How does J.B.‘s attitude toward the boys change when begins investing himself in their success rather than just thinking of them as a financial investment? What kind of responsibility should J.B. take for the boys after removing them from their homes?

What cultural differences do the boys experience when they arrive in America? How difficult would it be land in a country where you can’t speak the language? Despite the many luxuries people enjoy in North America, is life always better here? What good things do the boys have to leave behind?

What is J.B.‘s attitude toward women? Why is he not interested in Brenda? Why does his perspective change? Why is he upset about having to give up the convenience of his single life?

This movie is based on a true story. The real JB Bernstein created a reality TV contest in India called The Million Dollar Arm. Participants were offered a cash prize plus an opportunity to train in America and then try out as a pitcher for a Major League Baseball team. Rinku Singh and Dinesh Kumar Patel won the contest in 2008 and later went on to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Million Dollar Arm movie is October 7, 2014. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Million Dollar Arm
Release Date: 7 October 2014
Million Dollar Arm releases to home video (Blu-ray/Digital Copy) with the following bonus features:
- Training Camp: Actors Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal faced the same daunting challenge that their characters Rinku and Dinesh did—learning how to pitch a baseball.
- Their Story: The real JB Bernstein, Rinku and Dinesh explore the legacy of the Million Dollar Arm contest and its impact on the lives and aspirations of children in India... and their own lives as well.
- Million Dollar Music by A.R. Rahman: The Oscar-winning composer (for Best Original Score, Slumdog Millionaire, 2008) talks about creating music that encompasses two worlds—India and the U.S.
- Alternate Ending, Outtakes, and Deleted Scenes

Related home video titles:

When JB is looking for the next big sport’s contract he mentions the movie The Year of the Yao —a documentary that follows the transformation of Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball player who becomes an American superstar.

In Cool Runnings sprinters from Jamaica re-invent themselves as a bobsled team. In order to give his collage basketball team a winning edge, Coach Carter breaks with accepted social norms by recruiting players from the colored community. A middle-aged man with a fast arm gets a chance to play in big league baseball in The Rookie. And Trouble With The Curve is a fictional tale about the trails of being a baseball scout.

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