BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
When I first heard Jon Hamm was going to be in a Disney movie about baseball I automatically visualized him being an older player who is trying to recapture glory, win over the girl and have a huge powerful moment in the end. It’s a paint-by-numbers type of thing. Then you find out more about the movie and see the trailer. The impressive supporting cast is made up of Bill Paxton, Lake Bell, and Alan Arkin. Hamm plays a sports agent who is down on his luck. In a moment of genius desperation he’s watching TV late at night. He comes across a cricket game and sees how fast the folks in India are throwing the ball. He then up and decides to go to India to recruit people who throw the ball fast in attempt to turn them into pitchers in Major League Baseball. He scoops up a couple, comes back to the US, and heartwarming hijinks ensues. We get the manliness of Hamm, the fish out of water innocence of the Indian players, the know-it-all-seen-it-all wisdom of Arkin, the conflict from Paxton, and the love interest in Bell. I’m sure it ends with a powerful and happy ending, but the journey to get there should be better than I would originally anticipate based on the name of the movie, the company behind it, and the awesome actor at the lead. In the end I imagine at least one of the Indian players make the big leagues, Hamm and Bell hook up, and all is good in the end. It’s Disney. This doesn’t mean it’ll be a bad movie, but it’s just not a movie I’m too excited about.
RELEASE DATE - 5/16/2014
|
