Whenever I hear about traditions or the breaking of traditions, I always have the song from Fiddler on the Roof about ‘Tradition’ ringing into my head when Tevy is singing to his cows and goats in rage that his daughter is breaking tradition. Moneyball brings to the same light, but the philosophy of breaking tradition in the summer past time of baseball.
Moneyball is directed by Bennett Miller, who did unrated work in Capote, and tells the story of the GM of the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane played by Brad Pitt (Ocean 11, Legends of the Fall). Billy is given a really unfair advantage on running one of the poorest teams in the Major Leagues and have to compete and have retain expectations to contend against the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and The Red Sox’s. Beane loses his three best players from the year before and has to start from scratch. The problem is that his scouting team still looks at players like they did 150 years ago, and the system just is so archaic that it doesn’t even make sense which the film jumps back and forth between his failure as a professional baseball player and current events.
Beane falls upon sports analyst Peter Brand played by Jonah Hill (Mega mind, Super bad) that has a cutting edge way to find players who can play, and the statistics prove the number. Beane shoots for the opportunity, putting his entire career on the line for the systematic approach known as Moneyball.
I must admit it going to a movie for me to root for a team that I have hated growing up as a Seattle Mariners fan doesn’t help. So I had to take a step back from my bias approach to the movie. Money ball worked on some levels, and frustrated me on others.
What worked for me is that Brad Pitt. He played a Howard Hughes type roll, were Beane is borderline insane. This was Jonah Hill's best performance as an actor as well. Both should see Oscar nod’s this year. I loved how they mixed in actual documentary footage mixed with Beane’s past to display a real life picture of life of Beane and why he does what he does.
What I didn’t like is some of the scripting was sloppy. What I mean is that they talked about things that either didn’t exist or wasn’t around in 2002 as it is today. Just simple things that should’ve been filtered in the script writing that didn't translate to the screen. Also in that time period, the Oakland A’s had one of the best pitching rotations in baseball at that time, yet it goes without any credit to any of the team’s success. It brought the “Hollywood” story into this movie and left me with an empty taste in my mouth.
This movie is good movie. It is very unconventional and has a great star studded cast. I felt like the movie was missing at the end.
Grade: B
If you liked this film, I recommend
Aviator (2004)
Friday Night Lights (2004)
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)