There are a couple of times in Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” where Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, ponders “how can you not be romantic about baseball?" Baseball is the most romantic of all sports, if you’re a true baseball fan you understand, this is probably why many of the greatest sports movies ever are baseball flicks. However, you don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this film.
“Moneyball” is a film just as much about business as it is hitting a spiraling white ball with a stick, in much the same way that last year’s “The Social Network” was more than just about Facebook. In fact, “Moneyball” was co-written by ‘Network’ scribe Aaron Sorkin, along with Steven Zaillian, based off of Michael Lewis’ book of the same name published in 2003.
“Moneyball,” while similar, is better than “The Social Network,” which was somewhat boring, despite many critics calling it the best film of the year.
The story in “Moneyball” is true, well, mostly true. It tells the story about how Beane, the GM of the A’s, sees his team’s three biggest and best players (Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon & Jason Isringhausen) leave following a playoff appearance via free agency to teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox with deeper pockets. The A’s could never compete with the high payrolls of those teams, but thanks to a new system involving Bill James’ Sabermetrics and mathematical equations that Beane is shown by recent Yale graduate Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill, they realize that they can compete with those teams by paying less. The only bit of the film that is obviously not completely accurate is the fact that there never was a Peter Brand. Hill’s nerdy character is roughly based on former A’s assistant to the GM and current New York Mets Vice President of player development and scouting Paul DePodesta.
In laymen’s terms this is a smart film that’s one of the best movies of the year, but if you’re the kind of filmgoer that likes ‘Transformers’ type films don’t bother. It’s not a fast paced film by any means. It doesn’t have any action and the laughs aren’t laugh out loud funny.
What “Moneyball” does have is good actors (Pitt, Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman as A’s manager Art Howe) giving great performances by reading a great script filled with smart and witty dialogue.
The thing that is the most intriguing about “Moneyball” is there really has never been a film quite like it in the sub-genre of sports films. There are a lot of great sports films out there, but this is the first one to go into the front office life and it’s about time. Sorkin is very good at going into places that film (and television) audiences really haven’t gotten a glimpse into.
Though the film is about what’s going on in the front office more so than on the diamond it still has that great essence of baseball surrounding it, despite the fact that these guys, Beane and Brand, are messing around with the sport’s traditions. It’s got that romanticism of baseball down pat, after all, how can you not be romantic about baseball?
“Moneyball” is rated PG-13 for language and runs two hours and 13 minutes.
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