Jon Hamm is one of my favorite actors working today and I am still baffled that he hasn’t been headlining more films. From his epic turn as Don Draper on MAD MEN to great turns in BRIDESMAIDS, THE TOWN, and Larry David‘s recent HBO film CLEAR HISTORY, Hamm has proven he can handle anything from comic hijinks to heavy drama. While he may not be a superhero yet (give this guy Batman already!), he is on his way to big screen top billing. His first real test as the lead for a big studio film will be in Disney’s MILLION DOLLAR ARM which just got put against Warner Bros. GODZILLA remake next May.
MILLION DOLLAR ARM is a sports movie along the same lines of THE ROOKIE, REMEMBER THE TITANS, and INVINCIBLE. Disney loves these underdog films and they tend to do well at the box office. But MILLION DOLLAR ARM is a bit different than the rest. Here’s the synopsis:
It is based on the true story of sports agent JB Bernstein (Hamm) and his partner (Mandvi) who are facing shutting down their office until JB gets a brainstorm: Million Dollar Arm, an American Idol-like reality show designed to find the first major league baseball player from cricket-crazy India. They discover Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, who eventually became the first Indian pros when they signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates — but not before Bernstein had to teach them as much about American culture and speaking English as he did the rules of baseball.
MILLION DOLLAR ARM could easily be a feel good drama or could be an inspirational comedy along the lines of COOL RUNNINGS. Coming from director Craig Gillespie, who also helmed MR. WOODCOCK, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, FRIGHT NIGHT, and THE DALLAS BUYER’S CLUB, it remains to be seen which direction it will go. I just hope that the world finally gets a good look at Jon Hamm and lobbies for him to get a comic book movie of his very own.
MILLION DOLLAR ARM also stars Bill Paxton, LIFE OF PI‘s Suraj Sharma and Asiv Mandvi. It opens on May 16, 2014.
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