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SALT LAKE CITY -- OK, I admit it; I'm a real sucker for a great sports movie.
I love the classics, "Pride of the Yankees," "Knute Rockne All American." I also love the more recent films like "The Natural," "Cinderella Man" and "The Greatest Game Ever Played." Well, there's another movie I can add to my list and it's "Moneyball," starring Brad Pitt as Oakland A's manager Billy Beane.
Beane has demons. As a kid, he was "the natural" -- a fabulous athlete and a great student with a full scholarship to Stanford. When the big dollar baseball offers start to roll in, Billy is told college and the major leagues are incompatible and he has a decision to make.
I love this film. It's not just entertaining; it's uplifting and heartwarming.
He goes for the money. His major league career as a player falters; he becomes a scout and finally the general manager of the underfunded Athletics. Despite the meager recruiting money and rundown facilities, Billy manages to field a respectable team. But his best talent is always lured away by the big money.
When the team owner shuts down any hope of shaking more funds loose, Billy Beane has to do something radical. This is where the magic happens.
Jonah Hill stars as Peter Brand, a Yale graduate in economics, statistician and baseball fan working for another team. When their paths cross, Billy recognizes Peter's unusual abilities and hires him as assistant manager. Together they look for and acquire affordable talent, overlooked or under-appreciated by every other team.
Billy bets it all on the philosophy that matching the players themselves and the statistics that come with them to the specific needs of the team, discounting star power, age or style, will deliver wins. Needless to say, the traditionalist -including his scouts and team manager, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) - are less than enthusiastic and overtly work to scuttle the new "plan."
"Moneyball" is clearly Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill's movie and they are terrific. The odd-couple chemistry between the two is absolutely perfect.
I don't want to discount the many good performances in this film, including Kerris Dorsey who plays Billy's 13-year-old daughter, but "Moneyball" is clearly Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill's movie and they are terrific. The odd-couple chemistry between the two is absolutely perfect. The respect for the game, the references to teams and players past all add great texture and depth, especially as Billy and Peter's formula starts to work and the A's are setting records.
I love this film. It's not just entertaining; it's uplifting and heartwarming without becoming preachy or sappy. "Moneyball" gets 3½ stars and its rated PG-13.
