Movie Review: MONEYBALL
The first thing you need to know about me before reading my thoughts on the film Moneyball is I'm not a big sports fan. I don't like watching sports and would much rather be playing a video game or watching a movie. I do love to surf and I enjoy watching Hockey... That's about it. As for the sport of baseball I find it to be one of the most boring games to watch. But! I love a good sports film, films like The Natural, Field of Dreams, Eight Men Out, and A League of Their Own just to name a few baseball films that I love. That being said, I loved Moneyball, and it's one of the best sports films I've seen.
It was such a well made film, with a great engaging story and all around great performances. The movie made me wish that I was actually into sports during that time. How awesome it must have been to be a fan and to be a part of history, watching a game that you love evolve and change into something more right in front of your eyes. Something that would change the game of baseball forever. Damn, that would have been cool. Unfortunately for me I had to wait for the movie to come out before I realized what I missed. At the same time I still don't see myself getting into any other sports anytime soon because I just don't have the time. Is there anything going on now that I'm probably missing that will eventually get made into a movie?
Brad Pitt was fantastic in the film, he put a lot of work into this character and it paid off. As you may have heard there is some buzz about Pitt being nominated for and Oscar for his role in the movie. Believe the hype, Pitt was awesome, and I think he'll get the nomination, but I doubt he'll take home the win. He was good! Just not that good. As for Jonah Hill he was good in the movie, but in all honesty anyone could have pulled off that character, I understand it was a main character, but he was flat and monotone. If you're a fan of Hill and are expecting him to be funny... Don't, there's only actually a couple of slightly funny moments.
The had a great mixture light humor and drama. This movie was all about the story, heart and soul. It had a wonderful script written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) that I could see being nominated as well for Best Adapted Screenplay. Stan Chervin also did a wonderful job directing the film and telling this unbelievably amazing story.
The movie is based on a true story that focuses on Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane (Pitt) and Paul De Podesta (Hill), the GM and assistant that made the 2002 Oakland A’s a highly competitive Major League Baseball team. Beane ended up taking the extremely low budget team of low-rent players to a AL West Division title, and he did it all using a new and innovative modern analytical sabermetrics system. That's after they went through the trials of being the laughing stock of baseball. I loved the characters and relationships in the movie, and being a father myself I was able to respect and connect with what Pitt's character was trying to do for himself and his daughter. The movie could get emotional for anyone with a daughter.
Moneyball is one of the better movies that I've seen this year, and if you like sports or not it's a movie you should go out and watch. It's an all round solid film that everyone will enjoy. If you've already seen the film tell me what you thought!
