Moneyball is the true story of the Oakland A's. It spans over the tail end of the 2001 season and all of 2002. The A's ended the 2001 season on a low note. Oakland took a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series after winning two games in Yankees Stadium.However, the A's dropped the next two in Oakland--thanks in part to Jeter's miracle relay and another Pettite performance with his pinstripes backed against the wall (actually, it was the gray road jersey, but I was going for a moment there). Finally, the Yank's came home to knock off the A's and complete the come-from-behind series win. Then, New York really beat Oakland. In the off-season, they gobbled up Jason Giambi as a free agent. The A's also lost Jason Isringhausen to free agency and the St. Louise Cardinals. Finally, Johnny Damon also left small-market Oakland for the big market Boston Red Sox. To put it lightly, Oakland was facing a major rebuilding project heading into the 2002 campaign.
Without a lot of money to throw around, A's general manager, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) was very much behind the eight ball...check that...I mean, the Moneyball. That's when he meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). Peter is a Harvard grad and quickly becomes Beane's right-hand man with a very new approach to building a baseball team. The scouts are essentially usurped with Peter's computer as a rag-tag group of A's is assembled for 2002. This wasn't exactly popular in the front office, including A's manager, Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Yadayadayada Beane battles the controversy of his decisions on and off the field on his way to revolutionizing the way small market teams (and now even large market teams) evaluate the game.
It's good. Probably the best sports movie I've seen and easily worthy of 4.5 Star rating. You've got a great cast with powerful scenes and a plot that keeps a viewer very much dialed in. Keep in mind, however, that I fell in love with baseball at the age of 11. This movie was so good to me, because I understand a lot of the in's and out's of the game. I know that it's been said that non-baseball fans are going to enjoy Moneyball just as much as a baseball fan like me, but I'm going to say, "...not so fast!" and respectfully disagree. Many of the moments that were so compelling, spoke to me because I'm fairly fluent in the language of baseball. Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of non-baseball fans will enjoy various aspects of this movie. You've got the side-bar of Beane's own story, rising from high school phenom fame to becoming a bust in the bigs for the Mets, Twins and A's. The family side of Beane is also explored, etc., etc. That's all good, but frankly, if I'm not a baseball fan, I'm not seeing 4.5 stars, here. I saw it on it's opening night with a pretty packed house. You could certainly tell that a lot of people enjoyed it and a good number were fairly bored by it.
The acting is solid all around. Hill was tremendous. His goal with this role was to break from his comedic brand--goal accomplished. He was great. Pitt was Pitt...'nuff said, right! And Hoffman was, well, Hoffman--albeit in a smaller role.
Bottom line: if you're baseball fan, this one is a must see and go BIG for certain. If you're not a baseball fan or a even a sports fan, you're probably not going to enjoy Moneyball as much as you would if 4-6-3 is part of your everyday vernacular.
True...OUT!
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