Million Dollar Arm
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: May 16, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
19
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The PlaylistDrew TaylorMay 19, 2014
It's a different kind of Disney sports movie, more textured, gently spiritual and warmly idiosyncratic, but one that still, before the credits roll, will make you want to stand up and cheer. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie ErrigoAug 25, 2014
Very funny underdog comedy that’s genuinely heartwarming and full of charm. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesMay 14, 2014
The filmmakers have cast their underdogs well: Madhur Mittal plays the anxious, upright Dinesh; Suraj Sharma is the loose-limbed, pizza-loving Rinku; and they’re both funny and endearing, two words that apply to the whole of the supporting cast. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMay 15, 2014
Million Dollar Arm doesn’t break the familiar mold of come-from-behind sports movies — indeed, it obeys every convention of the genre. But it does so with understatement, style and an exceptional group of actors who bring just the right balance of humor and restraint to their roles. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 15, 2014
As predictable as a 3-and-0 pitch down the middle, but when it’s baseball season, who wants dark clouds? Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleMay 15, 2014
Due to its good humor and terrific story, Million Dollar Arm is always engaging; its power lies in its feel-good charm. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 15, 2014
McCarthy is following well-established story grooves here, but scene to scene, he allows the dialogue to breathe and reveal bits of character along with the more expedient bits of plot advancement. Read full review
75
HitfixDrew McWeenyMay 11, 2014
It's a feel-good story that raises cultural questions that the film doesn't seem terribly interested in answering, and it feels like an easy triple in the grand Disney tradition. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMay 16, 2014
Million Dollar Arm is cute, cloying, simplistic, borderline offensive … and thoroughly effective. Read full review
70
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 16, 2014
Most of all, though, there's the story itself, which was already pretty quirky -- and amazing -- even before Oscar-nominated screenwriter Thomas McCarthy ("Up") put pen to paper for director Craig Gillespe's film. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMay 15, 2014
You can see the stuff Million Dollar Arm throws at you from miles away, but that doesn't stop this baseball movie from being genially enjoyable. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenApr 30, 2014
Credit a rock solid turn by lead Jon Hamm that doesn’t shy away from revealing a darker underbelly to his underdog character, as well as a keenly-observed script by Tom McCarthy and deft direction by Craig Gillespie for the rewarding changeup. Read full review
70
VarietyScott FoundasApr 30, 2014
Sometimes a hard-hitting expose, sometimes a big-hearted crowdpleaser, Million Dollar Arm wants it both ways to be sure, but its instincts are mostly right on the money, as are its actors. Read full review
69
Film.comKate ErblandMay 17, 2014
This is a film about a journey, and while the destination – baseball’s major leagues – is continuously dangled in front of its protagonists, it’s getting there that counts. Oh, and also how fast you can throw a ball. That counts, too. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMay 16, 2014
This movie is altogether too nice. I prefer sports movies with more sass and snap, like the films Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham”) used to make, or even parts of “Moneyball.” Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMay 14, 2014
It's the latest male weepie cast from the same Disney mold as "The Rookie and "Miracle," and it's essentially "Jerry Maguire Goes to Mumbai." Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Shawna RicherMay 15, 2014
Where it falls short is that the film’s most compelling characters – Patel and Singh – are faintly unfinished and underexplored. It may well have worked better as pure documentary, and it will send many moviegoers on a mission to Google, where they will learn more about the real stars of the picture. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia PuigMay 15, 2014
When it focuses on the clash of cultures, laughs naturally flow. When it follows the familiar sports movie playbook too slavishly, it grows tedious. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversMay 15, 2014
Hamm is first-rate, his nuanced portrayal lifting the movie to the winner's circle. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 14, 2014
It's all very pleasant, very inspiring, just not very surprising. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichMay 13, 2014
What keeps you watching is the charisma of the performers: Hamm does an amiable riff on his Don Draper persona (he’s cynical before the big melt), Lake Bell is a delight as his tart-tongued love interest, and Sharma and Mittal are all charm as the cultures-uniting underdogs. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianJeff BakerMay 17, 2014
The potentially huge audience for Million Dollar Arm deserves a better movie, less derivative and cynical and more like something real. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 17, 2014
The result is sappy, saccharine, and predictable to the point where it's almost painful. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaMay 16, 2014
This supposedly uplifting true-life baseball tale never quite strikes the necessary emotional sweet spots that these types of inspirational sports movies shamelessly if effectively milk, despite a pitch with great potential. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMay 15, 2014
The movie is grimly efficient on its own terms, a string of ever more naked calculations. But it looks like a business school opened up and all the marketing grads were allowed to start their own studio. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 15, 2014
An unusual story and sharp talents have been put through the Disney family-film machinery and come out flattened into formula. It’s an average movie, and that isn’t bad — just average. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 15, 2014
How could a little story like this get stretched to 124 minutes? It's at least 30 minutes too long. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'HehirMay 15, 2014
Million Dollar Arm is not just a Disney film, but a Disney film that could have been made, with minor elisions and different character names, in 1963. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyMay 14, 2014
Million Dollar Arm is the kind of sports movie that crams everything subject-specific into quick-cut montages to make room for maudlin drama and fish-out-of-water comedy — a baseball flick where no one is actually shown playing baseball. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMay 14, 2014
Dawdling along as it does, Million Dollar Arm rarely shows us the “juice,” a baseball comedy that is as tentative as a base on balls. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 13, 2014
Nearly everything in this movie feels borrowed from other movies and ever so slightly reshaped, and almost never for the better. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithMay 11, 2014
Fatally mild, slow and factory-made, Million Dollar Arm belongs somewhere less competitive than the multiplex. Like the ABC Family Channel — the entertainment industry minor leagues. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMay 11, 2014
If the filmmakers had been more daring with perspectives and narrative structure, and afforded their Indian characters the screentime and agency JB enjoys on his adventure, Million Dollar Arm might have distinguished itself. Read full review
50
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeApr 30, 2014
This “based on a true story” underdog tale is infectiously determined to make you fall in love with it, like a mangy dog that plops its head in your lap and gazes adoringly at you until you scratch it behind the ears. Eventually, you give in and scratch. And then you wash your hands. Read full review
40
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 22, 2014
Hamm and Alan Arkin's grouchy scout conclude these deals with unarguable professionalism, but we can spot the manoeuvres required to magic neocolonialist playbook into heartwarming fairytale. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 15, 2014
Every conflict is softened by inspirational clichés. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMay 15, 2014
As slickly entertaining as you’d expect a Disney-produced inspirational sports movie to be. But it’s so lacking in sincerity and creativity that “inspirational” never rounds the corner to “inspiring.” Read full review
40
The DissolveScott TobiasMay 14, 2014
The only splash of cold water comes from Lake Bell as J.B.’s bohemian tenant, who pops his bubble of self-importance (and the film’s) whenever she gets the opportunity... her chemistry with Hamm, who gives his slickster all the dimension he can, offers a nice relief from the broad culture comedy and sentimental button-pushing. Read full review
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