Moneyball

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Starring: Billy Beane, Brad Pitt

4/5

Moneyball is a sports film with a difference. Based on the real life events of the 2002 Major League Baseball season, we follow Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, and his new assistant Peter Brand (Jonah Hill).

Director Bennett Miller tells a heart warming story of two men trying desperately to shakeup the system that restrains certain teams excelling thanks to budget constraints. Beane’s mission: to create a championship level team with just one quarter of the budget that teams such as the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox have. Brand explains to him that he can sign certain players at bargain prices if you strip away factors such as age, injuries and personality and instead look simply at certain statistics. Getting players with these statistics, no matter who they are, should lead to success.

And herein lies the difference. This film is about behind the scenes, in the offices and clubhouse rather than on the field, which greatly helps it from becoming just another ‘underdog team against the odds’ story. The greatest drama we see is not between the Athletics and another team, but rather the purely statistical tactics of Beane and Brand against the tried and tested ways of the experienced scouts and management. They are constantly battling the team’s manager, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who refuses to go along with Beane’s strategies.

Brad Pitt is great as usual, showing a range of emotion throughout the season but Jonah Hill is a real surprise. He does a great job in what is his first major, non-comedy role and some of the dialogue between him and Pitt is amazing. He acts as a guide, easing even complete novices to baseball into his statistical system, meaning baseball foreknowledge is beneficial but not essential. Even so, this is admittedly not a film for everyone. Anyone not interested in sports will struggle to enjoy the back office drama and how it plays out on the field. Hoffman plays his role well but is underused for an actor of his calibre and should have seen more screen time.

On the whole, Moneyball is a well-told, engaging story as the new statistical and old tried and tested systems of player management go to war. It somewhat lacks an emotional climax as real life based films sometimes do, but it’s a must for those even with a fleeting interest in American sports.