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Moneyball
A ferocious, Oscar-nominated performance by Brad Pitt anchors a riveting, fact-based 2011 sports drama called Moneyball, placed in the world of professional baseball, but is really a character study of a real life icon in the business and his mastery of the business behind baseball.
Before getting into specifics, a couple of things I should clarify, especially for anyone new to my review thread. First of all, you couldn't fill a thimble with what I know about sports, but I LOVE movies about sports. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I attempted to watch this movie a few years ago and turned it off after about 15-20 minutes. But like the similar experiences I had with Gravity and The Social Network, the film grabbed me this time and boy did it hold on tightly.
Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's who is tasked with rebuilding the losing baseball team. He initially thinks the problem is money that's keeping him from purchasing the talent he thinks he needs. When it becomes clear that Billy is getting no assistance from the front office, he goes out and poaches Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) a player consultant with the Cleveland Indians, who doesn't have a lot of baseball knowledge but knows a lot about economics and statistics,
The screenplay by Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin scores points for painting Billy Beane in fascinating, if not very flattering light. As he is presented here, Beane is seriously passionate about his job and what is best for the team. Unfortunately, what he thinks is best for the team isn't always best for the players themselves and he doesn't really seem to care. Beane is seen building a concrete wall between himself and the players that he claims makes it easier for him to trade players when necessary. My jaw dropped at about the halfway point of the film where Billy revealed to Peter he doesn't actually watch the games. There's a great scene where Billy makes Peter rehearse having to tell a player that he is being traded and about ten minutes later in the film, Peter actually has to do it. We also meet Billy's ex-wife (Robin Wright) and his daughter (Kerris Dorsey), who were obviously casualties in Billy's obsession with his job, but they have come to be able to survive amicably in the same orbit.
Pitt is the real story here, completely sinking his teeth into a character who does a lot of wrong for all the right reasons. Love that scene in the locker room where he catches a player dancing after a loss. On the positive of Billy Beane, I did love of his fierce defense of Peter, whose hiring Beane apparently took a lot of flack for. I also like that after hiring Peter, Billy actually listened to what he said and trusted that he hired this guy for a reason and that he knows what he's talking about.
Director Bennett Miller, who directed the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman to an Oscar in Capote, employs first rate production values and rich motivations for the characters for most of this cinematic canvas. In addition to Pitt's Best Actor nomination, the film received five other nominations including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Hill, and for Adapted screenplay. The supporting cast shines, with standout work from Chris Pratt as Scottie Hatteberg, Hoffman as Art Howe, Glenn Morshower as Ron Hopkins, Reed Diamond as Mark Shapiro, and Stephen Bishop as David Justice. The movie runs over two hours, but I didn't even feel the length. Everything works here, especially Pitt, who once again, documents that he is more than a pretty face.
A ferocious, Oscar-nominated performance by Brad Pitt anchors a riveting, fact-based 2011 sports drama called Moneyball, placed in the world of professional baseball, but is really a character study of a real life icon in the business and his mastery of the business behind baseball.
Before getting into specifics, a couple of things I should clarify, especially for anyone new to my review thread. First of all, you couldn't fill a thimble with what I know about sports, but I LOVE movies about sports. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I attempted to watch this movie a few years ago and turned it off after about 15-20 minutes. But like the similar experiences I had with Gravity and The Social Network, the film grabbed me this time and boy did it hold on tightly.
Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's who is tasked with rebuilding the losing baseball team. He initially thinks the problem is money that's keeping him from purchasing the talent he thinks he needs. When it becomes clear that Billy is getting no assistance from the front office, he goes out and poaches Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) a player consultant with the Cleveland Indians, who doesn't have a lot of baseball knowledge but knows a lot about economics and statistics,
The screenplay by Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin scores points for painting Billy Beane in fascinating, if not very flattering light. As he is presented here, Beane is seriously passionate about his job and what is best for the team. Unfortunately, what he thinks is best for the team isn't always best for the players themselves and he doesn't really seem to care. Beane is seen building a concrete wall between himself and the players that he claims makes it easier for him to trade players when necessary. My jaw dropped at about the halfway point of the film where Billy revealed to Peter he doesn't actually watch the games. There's a great scene where Billy makes Peter rehearse having to tell a player that he is being traded and about ten minutes later in the film, Peter actually has to do it. We also meet Billy's ex-wife (Robin Wright) and his daughter (Kerris Dorsey), who were obviously casualties in Billy's obsession with his job, but they have come to be able to survive amicably in the same orbit.
Pitt is the real story here, completely sinking his teeth into a character who does a lot of wrong for all the right reasons. Love that scene in the locker room where he catches a player dancing after a loss. On the positive of Billy Beane, I did love of his fierce defense of Peter, whose hiring Beane apparently took a lot of flack for. I also like that after hiring Peter, Billy actually listened to what he said and trusted that he hired this guy for a reason and that he knows what he's talking about.
Director Bennett Miller, who directed the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman to an Oscar in Capote, employs first rate production values and rich motivations for the characters for most of this cinematic canvas. In addition to Pitt's Best Actor nomination, the film received five other nominations including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Hill, and for Adapted screenplay. The supporting cast shines, with standout work from Chris Pratt as Scottie Hatteberg, Hoffman as Art Howe, Glenn Morshower as Ron Hopkins, Reed Diamond as Mark Shapiro, and Stephen Bishop as David Justice. The movie runs over two hours, but I didn't even feel the length. Everything works here, especially Pitt, who once again, documents that he is more than a pretty face.