Back in 2000, while still toiling around public school somewhere, I had my first interaction with filmmaker and actor Tom McCarthy.
He had a small role in "Meet the Parents" as the soon-to-be son in-law of Robert De Niro and for some reason I can't quite understand till this day, I thought he was the funniest thing in it. Maybe it was something about the timing in a couple of his lines, but either way, the point is that afterwards I looked up his name in the credits, and from then on I was a McCarthy fan.
I soon learned that on top of acting, McCarthy was quite a writer and director as well, with his 2003 film "The Station Agent" and then later on in 2007 with "The Visitor." He also lent his talents to the development of the screenplay for "Up," so clearly the man has talent.
His upcoming film, "Win Win," is getting good early buzz, so it's great to hear that McCarthy has just picked up another writing gig. According to The Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy is set to pen "Million Dollar Arm" for Walt Disney Pictures.
The story is based on the inspirational tale of how sports agent J.B. Bernstein discovered professional baseball pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel from over 40,000 contestants through an Indian reality show. Patel and Singh became the first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts when joining the Pittsburgh Pirates.
McCarthy’s is set to pen the project next, but as of yet there's no word on a director or whether he would be up for the job himself.
Whether McCarthy writes or directs the film, it sounds as if it should be an inspiring one, much like Disney's other sports films, such as "Secretariat." The story behind the two players is truly fascinating, even for people who aren't baseball fans.
While I think this type of story would be a great project for McCarthy to direct, just the fact that he is contributing the screenplay is a huge step in the right direction.
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