Though
considered America’s pastime, baseball can be slow-paced and boring
to people who are not adoring fans. But Bennett Miller’s
“Moneyball” is an easygoing film that is a refreshing exception to
the typical sports movie.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>Though considered America’s
pastime, baseball can be slow-paced and boring to people who are
not adoring fans. But Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” is an easygoing
film that is a refreshing exception to the typical sports
movie.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>Attempting to build a million
dollar baseball team with a thousand dollar budget is not an easy
job; however, that is exactly what Billy Beane, the general manager
of the Oakland A’s, does. Based on a true account of the 2002
baseball season, Brad Pitt stars as the daring, charismatic GM who
puts his team and job on the line to employ players based on a
computer generated analysis.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>In addition to the main story
about baseball, the film also includes an underlying story about
Beane’s life of trying to be a good father to his 12-year-old
daughter with occasional flashbacks to his past when he was
considered a very promising upcoming player. Together this adds a
light touch of drama to the movie.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>“Moneyball” takes baseball
and invites you to look at it from a different perspective. There
has not been a movie showing the business side of sports because
the action of the game is usually more interesting. However, this
film proves that to be false.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>While “Moneyball” is an
entertaining movie, true baseball fans will quickly note that there
are minor inaccuracies. For example, Peter Brand is a fictional
character and some of the players who received the most attention
in the movie were not the ones who actually played the most that
year. But what movie doesn’t fluff up the truth to make a more
interesting story to watch? Still the movie does include much of
real life footage of the A’s 20 streak winning season. Despite his
colleague’s skepticism of Billy Beane’s decision to fill his team
with unlikely cheap players after losing their first few games,
they shocked everyone by winning every game after, excluding the
championship.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”> But movies do
not always have to end with the classic dramatic win to be
compelling.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”> The story of
how “old-school” thinking paired with “new-school” math made for an
amazing baseball team, a revolutionary way of analyzing the game,
and a great movie.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>Viewers will love Brad Pitt’s
character and the friendship between him and Jonah Hill, who steps
out of his typical comedic role.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>With a few impressive
characters, an easy to follow storyline, and a relatable underdog
team, “Moneyball” is quite an entertaining movie. Because of the
realistic content, drama, and comic relief.
“font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;”>Grade- A
- U’Leasa Joseph, Contributor