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JT (287 KP) rated Moneyball (2011) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

Moneyball (2011)

2011 | Drama

7.7

(6 Ratings)

Movie Rating

If you like your baseball and statistics, if you know your ERA from your RBIs then this is surely going to be a film not to miss. Directed by Bennett Miller the film stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane the general manager of the Oakland Athletics during the 2002 season in which the club went on a 20 game winning streak.

The theory and reason behind this success was using player stats and computer generated analysis to pick a team of relative nobodies, a practice that is now used by almost every baseball club in the National and American leagues today.

During this monumental season the club achieved 103 total wins doing so on a tiny budget, matching the mighty New York Yankees whose budget was well over $100m. To say that Beane’s method was out there was an understatement, and not everyone agreed, and in some cases they still don’t. The film however is living proof that it did work!

Beane’s sidekick in all of this and one of the only other people backing him was Peter Brand (Hill) the brains, whose ability to value and assess players on their potential to get to first plate and thus increase the likehood of runs was almost invaluable.

So how do you make a film about pure stats an exciting one, there is not enough live action to depend on, although the clubs pivotal game to reach twenty straight wins is pretty amazing when you see how they almost let an elven run lead slip through their fingers.

The acting is solid, Pitt and Hill gel extremely well and Philip Seymour Hoffman ads a gruff dimension as the clubs manager, seemingly having to succumb to Beane and Brand’s mathematical insanity.

You don’t need to be a fan of the game to enjoy this one, its an underdog story from the perspective of the back room and at the end when you see just how much Beane turned down to take the same post at the Boston Red Sox you can really get a feel for just how much it all meant to him.