Review: Moneyball

MONEYBALL (Drama)

Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Casey Bond, Stephen Bishop, Royce Clayton, David Hutchison, Kathryn Morris, Kerris Dorsey

SCR: Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian; based on Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

DIR: Bennett Miller

MPAA: PG-13 for some strong language.

2 hours 13 mins

 

The opening scene in Moneyball recalls the final game of the 2001 American League Division Series, in which the Oakland Athletics lost 3-2 to the New York Yankees.  The A’s finished in 2nd place with the most wins ever by a team that won the Wild Card.  

 

The surprising part: The Yankees had an operating budget of over $120 million.  The A’s had to work with just $39 million.

 

Stung from the loss and the exodus of his three expensive star players, general manager Billy Beane (Pitt) decides to break the mold.  Rather than rely on the time-honored tradition of having a bunch of old-timers weighing the intangibles of potential new players, he hires nebbishy accountant Peter Brand (Hill) to crunch stats.  

 

They surmise that hiring “unwanted” players (that have one or two particular strengths, such as stealing bases) for lower salaries makes more financial sense than chasing high-dollar superstars that would yield lesser results on the field.  Hill compares it to creating a team from the “Island of Misfit Toys.”  

 

Of course, Beane is told repeatedly he “can’t change baseball” by the old guard, most stubbornly his coach, Art Howe (a bald Hoffman, all grizzle and slow burn).  At first, Beane becomes the laughingstock of the sport for his maverick approach and the A’s fall prey to in-house power struggles and a legendary losing streak.  

 

But there wouldn’t be a movie if it didn’t turn around sooner or later, and that’s when Moneyball slyly transforms from being about a bunch of guys talking about baseball stats into a tense and rousing sports drama.  

 

The film isn’t without its problems: original director Steven Soderbergh left the project days after Sony shut down production, only to resume again with Miller at the helm. Multiple versions of the script and an extensive final pass from Oscar-winner Sorkin resulted in the film embracing a dry crisp talky style one minute, crowd-pleasing comedy the next.  

 

Pointless flashbacks that recount his failed potential as a ball player in the 80s and tender scenes with his daughter (Dorsey) exist only to make Pitt’s Beane more sympathetic.  

 

But while the tone is shaky and the movie is overlong by a good twenty minutes, the performances are finely tuned.  Pitt smashes a lot of things when he gets mad, but he radiates a cool head when fielding high pressure phone calls with careers and big money on the line.  

 

Hoffman is another kind of low-key, the surly kind that comes from equal parts experience and entitlement.  Alas, Hill nails the tentative “fish out of water” vibe early but can’t help but come off a bit miscast.  And speaking of slick negotiations, Wright managed to nail a fourth place credit despite having just one scene (and an off-screen phone call).  

 

Cinematographer Wally Pfister (Inception, The Dark Knight) establishes gravitas by shooting the Oakland Coliseum in bold, dramatic strokes.  The inner offices might be unspectacular but the ballparks in this film are shot like gladiator stadiums.  

 

In the end, Moneyball is a solid, interesting drama that never knocks one out of the park, but still manages to get on base more times than not, and puts one in the win column.  Billy Beane probably wouldn’t be too impressed by being good enough, but a win is a win.

 

(Columbia)