Moneyball

Director: Bennett Miller
Writers: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Release Date: September 23, 2011
Length: 2 hours 13 minutes

    One of the most anticipated films to go to this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was the inspirational adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Starring the ultimate money-promiser Mr. Brad Pitt, Moneyball tells the incredible true story of how the failing Oakland Athletics baseball team revolutionized the game of baseball.

    With the departure of the team’s most (and only) successful three players, General Manager Billy Beane (Pitt) is at a loss for how he will rebuild the team that has been left in the dust. He refuses to “replace” the lost players, which is the only strategy his old scouts are ready to play out, but he still cannot figure out a way to recruit good players with Oakland’s limited player payroll.

    While visiting the Cleveland Indians, Beane meets Yale economics graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who has radical ideas about evaluating a player’s value. Beane hires him on the spot as the assistant general manager to the Oakland Athletics. Although he faces scrutiny from the team’s experienced scouts, Brand selects a group of underrated players almost solely on their “on base” percentage. Beane supports Brand’s picks and hires the players. Once the team’s choices becomes public, Beane and the Oakland A’s receive intense criticism from everyone involved with the sport, with everyone agreeing that it’s a nice idea, but you just can’t change over a hundred year old sport.

    The first many games do not prove Brand’s theory true, due to the opposition from manager Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), but when he agrees to go on with Beane’s ridiculous plan, the Oakland A’s slowly begin to improve and rise up. Everyone cannot seem to believe they are seeing Brand’s idea resonate, but just because the theory worked out does not mean the team is safe.

    There is a very dark shadow cast over what Michael Lewis calls an unfair game, both visibly, in director Bennett Miller’s camerawork and hidden within the story, both vital for Moneyball. This is not a typical sports movie, in that it has a much more realistic bare look at what many people did not know to be an unjust game, from Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian’s script. Though this is an underdog story, through Beane’s struggle to get the team off the ground, the rewarding feeling does not last very long when it hits.

    When you add Miller’s very dark lighting and intense shooting, you are left with a very unconventional but very honest and intriguing sports movie. The overall dark atmosphere makes the moments of joy between Beane and his daughter, and moments of clever humor from Sorkin and Zaillian, usually between Beane and Brand, that much more important. In a sense, it is up to the cast to bring the light out of the story.

    Brad Pitt gives a brilliant performance as Beane, the complete opposite of his last role, in The Tree of Life as Mr. O’Brien. Where one performance was fantastic as an unstable 1950s Father, the other was fantastic as a normal likable father. In Moneyball, Pitt carries the movie perfectly as the confident, but unsure General Manager and loving parent as well.

    Jonah Hill, in one of his first non-comedic role, simply shines as a serious actor in his performance of the timid, awkward Peter Brand. Sticking to his roots though, Hill still makes us laugh in various scenes with Pitt, who shares a strong bro-chemistry with Hill. Chris Pratt, best known for his hilarious role on NBC’s Parks and Recreation also shows off his skills as a dramatic actor, playing the injured young father Scott Hatteburg thrilled to be unexpectedly hired onto the team. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who worked with Miller on Capote, is also great in his small role as the irritated manager of the team, while Kerris Dorsey gives a very enjoyable performance as Beane’s loving daughter Casey.

   Though Moneyball may not be the most uplifting movie of the year, it gives you one of the most brutally candid looks at Baseball, which makes for an exceptionally original and free of clichés movie. With Pitt’s performance leading the way, he heightens your appreciation and enjoyment of one of the most refreshing films of the year.