'Moneyball' worthy of all the plaudits
Moneyball
(Cert 12, 127 mins, Drama)
Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), general manager of Oakland Athletics baseball team, goes cap in hand to the team’s owner for more funds after bigger teams pilfered three of his star players.
The request is denied – “Don’t spend money I don’t have!” – so Billy turns to Yale-educated economist Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who believes crucial decisions should be based on statistics and data.
Together, Billy and Peter compile a list of the most undervalued players in the league and bring together this band of misfits as the new squad.
Gruff team manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) scoffs at the plan, as do members of the old guard.
The season begins with a series of crushing defeats, heaping pressure on Billy and Peter, until the tide turns and miraculously, the A’s embark on the longest winning streak in the sport’s history.
Based on an incredible true story, Moneyball is a classic tale of triumph against adversity but the script, co-written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, doesn’t lazily regurgitate cliches of the genre.
The film might set up a classic feel-good resolution but Bennett Miller’s drama is smarter than that, laden with snappy dialogue and richly detailed characters.
Pitt impresses as a family man bucking the trend, while Hill foregoes his usual comedy shtick to demonstrate his dramatic range as the expert number cruncher.
Both men deserved their Oscar nominations. Box sets comprising the DVD or Blu-ray and Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball: The Art Of Winning An Unfair Game are also available.
Rating: 4/5.
Click to stay connected with
more stories like this:
more stories like this:
