Brad Pitt takes on the money-hungry sports world in the new film “Moneyball,” which hit theaters Friday.
“Moneyball” is the story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), who is told that he has to field a winning baseball team with less than half the money most teams have available to them.
Given $38 million to create his team, Beane must find a way to compete with the $114 million other baseball organizations have at their disposal. Fair deal, right?
Beane teams up with Harvard graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who uses a statistical formula to evaluate players by projecting their success in order to get the most out of the money accessible for team building.
While the baseball community, his own scouts and the team manager look on in horror, Beane and Brand rustle up a few rag-tag players to fill the gaping hole in the lineup recently vacated by stars Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen.
It seems as though Beane is doing everything to create a horrible team for the coming season. These are not decisions indicative of a general manager who wishes to keep his job, but Beane is a man on a mission who believes in the unorthodox method he is pioneering. He is all about winning; he just has to accomplish it without the luxury of incredibly deep pockets.
The story is one of guts for glory and second chances.
“Moneyball” encompasses what baseball should be all about. Baseball is not about homeruns or making millions of dollars. It’s about heart and competition. It’s about playing a game as a team and working toward a common goal.
Ironically, the unemotional scientific approach that Beane and Brand pioneer leads to an emotional ride and inspiring success.
“Moneyball” focuses on the players and the men who aren’t necessarily star players in their own right but as a team are something formidable. The film is extremely well written and packed with great character development.
It doesn’t just tell the story of baseball’s most daring general manager; it draws the viewer directly into Beane’s life. The viewer is made to feel the anxiety, the pain of defeat and the euphoria of victory.
Brad Pitt delivers a stellar performance in his portrayal of the sarcastic and quick-witted Beane and Jonah Hill shows the world he can actually do more than just vulgar comedy.
The narration of the film shows audiences that baseball and life are not all about money. Beane is criticized for tearing the heart and soul out of the game, but the amazing thing is that this statistical formula sees things that others don’t. It doesn’t ruin the game; it makes it more precise and, therefore, better. It puts players on the field based on results, not age, not physical fitness, not flashy homeruns, but results.
The film imparts the ideal that it doesn’t matter where you come from, what has happened to you in the past, or if you are just another weirdo, anyone can do well with a little faith and willpower.
“Moneyball” is an emotional film with big heart and a little humor sprinkled in at just the right moments. It comments on professional baseball as a business that used to be a game.
Players don’t play for a team anymore; they play for the highest bidder. In the sports world today, teams don’t play for championships; team owners buy them. “Moneyball” tackles with great elegance the issues of the enormous payroll inequality that plagues professional baseball.
The film is beautifully written and artfully directed by Bennett Miller. The cast, script and themes combine to form a cinematic victory. “Moneyball” is a film that should go down in history as one of the greatest sports movies ever made.
