The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

A game of skill or stats?

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
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