By snoadmin
“Moneyball” is a baseball movie like “The Social Network” is a Facebook movie. The film may be about baseball, but at its core it is about the people behind-the-scenes and how their decisions affect the thousands of fans who critique their every move.
Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the 2002 General Manager of the Oakland A’s, is upset over his team’s loss to the New York Yankees in the post season, and decides that he needs a higher budget if he’s ever going to beat the richer teams. To him, the game is unfair because the teams with more money are able to sign any players they want, while he is stuck with the underachievers.
That’s when he meets young Yale economics graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who tells Billy that there is a winning team out there in his price range; he just has to look for it. Using an intricate system of statistics, Peter shows Billy that it’s more important to get players who can score runs than it is to get star players who are overpaid.
This is when the titular “Moneyball” system comes into play, and the bulk of the film is spent watching how this new style of scouting players does and doesn’t succeed. Billy takes criticism at every step of the way, and is told that he is violating conventional wisdom that has been used for generations.
Pitt portrays Billy as a man who shows exceptional confidence while talking to players and coaches, but becomes anxious and uncertain behind closed doors. Not only does Billy not watch the games in the stands, but he also has trouble watching them on TV without the sound muted. To him, the game is all about winning and numbers, and he would rather be told the statistics after the game than be told during it.
His sidekick Peter, played by an impressively subdued Hill, is different. Even though Peter is able to see the statistics in everything, he is still able to enjoy the games live and watch them for what they are.
Pitt’s work in this film is fantastic. He is able to convey a deep understanding of the ups and downs of the game in every scene. Billy was once a player himself and was told that he was a Major League Baseball prospect, but his performance was mediocre once he came to the majors. Pitt plays the character as if he knows what it’s like to be hurt by the game you love, and that mentality is behind every decision he makes.
Another notable performance is by comedian Chris Pratt from TV’s “Parks and Recreation.” Pratt plays ex-catcher Scott Hatteberg, who is picked up by the A’s and told to play first base for the first time in his career. Pratt is charming and believable in the role, and is exciting to watch as a man who gets a second chance in an unforgiving sport.
In the end, “Moneyball” is less of a sports movie than it is a business movie, but it is a fascinating glimpse at how a baseball team can be operated. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that there are human beings behind all of those stats and that is what this film helps to remind us.
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