Moneyball

Moneyball

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Written by: Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian

Plot:

The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Review:

Aaron Sorkin is a master wordsmith. He seems to make topics that could be extremely uninteresting into something worth watching. I don’t even like baseball, in fact I HATE baseball and I enjoyed this film. Maybe it’s because I saw Abduction(http://bigbobbosreviews.blogspot.com/2011/09/abduction.html) this morning and that movie was so terrible that it made Moneyball stand out. That might be the case a little, but Moneyball, all on its own, impressed me. 

There was a perfect mix of comedy and drama and it helped that a great cast pulled it all together. Forget Brad Pitt, we all know he is awesome. He is great in everything he is in and Moneyball was no exception. What I found extremely interesting was the fact that they casted two comedians to be in this movie, Jonah Hill and Chris Pratt. Jonah Hill I am sure you all know is a great actor. Obviously he is very funny and his humor really brought the film together. Besides him being a funny man he does have acting chops. If you have seen him in Cyrus, which is technically a comedy, you know this. Chris Pratt, which you all should get to know, was another funny man in this drama. Chris Pratt plays a dimwitted character on the show Parks and Recreations and he pulled off a drama very well. I really did not expect much from him but he really brought something to the screen that evoked emotion. 

A problem I had with the film besides the fact that it was a little bit too long was the climax. I really do not feel like I am giving away any spoilers because this is all general baseball knowledge that is all over the internet. It is not like the facts of the A’s wins and loses are based on a true story, it is in fact, a fact. So if you do not want to read further do not but I think this is important to say. The whole point of this system was to change the game of baseball forever. That this system can bring a team to the playoffs or further. Billy Beane wanted to make the playoffs. Now the main baseball scene in this film focused on their record setting win streak of 20 games. They made this game seem like the most significant moment of the film. Yes, this streak is impressive but the streak is not what the film was about, and they made the streak the main climax. They completely overlooked the fact that they won the division, which in my opinion should have been the main point of the film. The fact that this system brought a team to the playoffs. Then they just showed their exit from the playoffs like it was nothing. 

If you have read this far, I apologize for “giving that all away” and I do not think that this information ruins the movie at all. Moneyball was extremely well done and the performances from Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are worth paying money to see. I’ll say it again, I HATE baseball, and this baseball film got me hooked.

Rating: 8/10

Please show your support my clicking on one of the ads. This is how I pay to watch more movies. Thank you for reading.