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Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) challenges the system and defies conventional wisdom when his is forced to rebuild his small-market team on a limited budget. Despite opposition from the old guard, the media, fans and their own field manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Beane - with the help of a young, number-crunching, Yale-educated economist (Jonah Hill) - develops a roster of misfits…and along the way, forever changes the way the game is played.
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It's amazing that Moneyball makes baseball statistics seem fascinating--but that's because it's not really a movie about numbers, and it's not really a movie about baseball, either. It's about what drives people to take risks--in this instance, Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A's, who's just had his best players poached by teams that can afford to pay a lot more. Fed up with how money twists the game, he listens to Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who persuades him that certain players are being undervalued for trivial reasons--that statistics reveal hidden strengths that could, when used in the right combinations, produce a winning season. Beane takes Brand's advice, then has to fight everyone else around him to follow it through. Moneyball skillfully takes the audience into Beane's psyche. Pitt is in excellent form; it's an understated but magnetic performance, the kind that rarely wins awards but should. Pitt has the physical presence of a former athlete and vividly expresses the mind of a man who's never achieved success but isn't ready to give up. Director Bennett Miller (Capote) shapes the supporting cast (Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, and others less recognizable but just as solid) as carefully as Beane shapes his team. Miller has a few flashy (and highly effective) moments of sound manipulation and editing, but Moneyball is carried by its superb performances. --Bret Fetzer
Moneyball (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + UltraViolet Digital Copy) Reviews
| 25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:  Back Office Baseball: A Smart Screenplay And Grounded Performances Showcase The Business Of The Game, By This review is from: Moneyball (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + UltraViolet Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) Every year, I get wary of the inevitable film set in a sporting arena where an underdog player or team must triumph against adversity to become unlikely heroes. As accomplished or heartwarming as many of these films can be, they never seem to be able to break free of the conventions that we've all seen a hundred times. While I can't say that "Moneyball" isn't inspired by the genre, I will say that it looks at the phenomenon from a decidedly different angle. Based on Michael Lewis's non-fiction account of the same name, this is actually an intriguing story ruled by the business of baseball as opposed to the emotions the game elicits. As such, it seems like something entirely new. Director Bennett Miller (Oscar nominee for Capote), along with heavyweight screenwriters Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian, has created one of the brainiest and least sentimental baseball films you're likely to see. "Moneyball" tells the true story of how the Oakland A's GM Billy Beane rebuilt the team for... Read more 13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:  The business of baseball, By Nicholas R.W. Henning (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews This review is from: Moneyball (DVD) "Moneyball" is based on true events, and provides valuable insight regarding the on-field and off-field dynamics of the Oakland A's Major League Baseball Club.This film has the capacity to engage viewers who are familiar or unfamiliar with the sport, based on the avant-garde approach to managing resources that is utilised by Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), which any person in business can appreciate. The narrative is also inspiring, as the viewer is presented with what seems like impossible circumstances for the A's to be successful, yet through innovative thinking high performance is achieved. Brad Pitt provides a solid performance, as does the entire cast, and the viewer is entertained with plenty of humour and quality drama. This movie is a win for baseball, as it has the capacity to introduce new people to the game from all over the world. Nicholas R.W. Henning - Australian Baseball Author Author of: Boomerang Baseball... Read more 16 of 21 people found the following review helpful: One of the Great Baseball Films, By This review is from: Moneyball (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) I love baseball. Played 14 seasons growing up. Even helped win some championships. Batting was always my favorite. There's nothing more intense than standing there, staring down the pitcher, bat twisting between your palms, waiting for the ball to come whipping out of that hand at insane speeds. Fielding was good too. I mostly played pitcher, first, second, shortstop, third, left, right, and center. Plus, when my dad was the manager, every night he'd look over all of the players' stats with me and spend hours agonizing over how to arrange the team to create the perfect fun/success ratio.What I'm saying is, I know a thing or two about baseball, so when I go to a movie on the subject, I expect a lot, and if they don't get it right, I'll tear into it with a passion. They got it right. But then again, it almost wasn't a baseball movie. Brad Pitt plays Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane at a time when the team's just lost its three star players. Faced... Read more |
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