Moneyball was a movie I was looking forward to. The premise looked good, and everyone behind it seemed great for the job. Reviews began to come out, and it seemed to appeal to more people than I initially anticipated. In the end, Moneyball is a great movie that almost anyone can enjoy, even if you’re not a baseball fan.
The plot centers around the down and out general manager of the Oakland A’s, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt). Billy is having trouble with his team because he just can’t seem to get the money that is usually needed to build a winning team. Billy soon meets recent economics college graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) who explains an interesting theory. It is mostly lots of different algorithms that predict which players would be best fit for a team. Most of these stats are reliant on a player’s on base percentage. Billy is caught up in a whirlwind of seemingly random players and must convince the scouts and all of Oakland that what he and Peter are doing is what’s best for the team.
I follow baseball pretty well. I don’t check players’ stats or watch every game, but it is America’s pastime, and a good one at that. Moneyball brings this to a whole new level involving complex math equations, and it’s surprisingly interesting to watch. Every time you wondered why you would need what you’re learning in math class, you would never think to look to baseball. It’s an odd thing to see a film based upon such a thing, but it works really well.
Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill work perfectly off of each other. It’s nice to see Pitt doing the thing he’s best at and doing it well. He has finally embraced the fact that he’s not a young boy, but is old enough to play mature rolls. Pitt has some Oscar buzz surrounding him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a nod. Jonah Hill can be very hit or miss, but he knocks it out with Moneyball. It’s not just Hill that’s good, but it’s the script that he’s given that helps to push him along onto the right track.
The writing in this movie is undeniably smart. Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin worked extremely well together. Jokes are witty, conversations seem natural, and it all just flows perfectly. It can get a bit sappy at times, but even that can’t stop the writing from being some of the best so far this year.
Bennett Miller, of Capote fame, handles the direction with ease. Shots are composed artfully and add to the tone of the scene every time. If it’s emotional, you’re going to see wide pans and close-ups on the actors’ faces. When things get less serious, you’ll see a lighting change that can make all the difference. It’s difficult to keep people interested in a behind the scenes sports movie, but the direction is what always kept me in.
Moneyball is a great movie and an amazing baseball movie. Fans of the sport will fall in love with it, and everyone else will still be enthralled, even if they don’t understand it all. It starts out a bit slow, and I feel like I’ve seen some of it before, but Moneyball is a great way to kick off the fall movie season. 9/10
