Moneyball

Moneyball premiered at TIFF 2011, before being released on September 23, 2011. It is based on Michael Lewis 2003 book of the same name. It was written by Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian, with story by Stan Chervin, it was directed by Bennett Miller, and stars Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt, and Casey Bond.



I don't really follow sports, let alone baseball. Being a Canadian, I of course have at least a slight interest in hockey, but's that as far as my interest in sports goes. However, I was quite excited for this film. Despite my lack of interest in sports, even I knew the story of the Oakland A's. A mediocre team with little money, who started using a radical baseball theory, becoming one of the best teams in the league, and changing the way the game was played.

An epic story requires an epic film, and that's what we have here. With a script by both Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian, both Academy Award winners, and a cast of Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the director of Capote, we have epicness in the making. I would say that this film is this years Social Network. The film that should win the majority of Oscars this year, but won't, probably losing to some sort of historical biographical drama (either J. Edgar or The Iron Lady, I imagine). Arguably, this is the best film this year.

Let me start with the cast. Brad Pitt, one of the best actors in cinema nowadays, does a fantastic job as GM (General Manager) on the Oakland A's, Billy Beane. We see his rise (short it is) into baseball, and his fall, eventually reaching the Oakland A's, and being promoted to GM. After losing the last season, he attempts to find a new way to win the World Series. He runs into Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a composite character, mostly based off of Paul DePodesta, a young Yale grad with radical ideas about baseball. Beane is inspired, and adopts this idea, called sabermetrics, also known as moneyball, to his team, coming into conflict with Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the manager of the Oakland A's. Brad Pitt does a fine job here, easily earning a Best Actor nomination. Jonah Hill also does a superb job, coming from mostly comedy work into drama. It's an interesting career move, and one that works well for him. This is his best role to date, and I hope to see him do more dramatic roles. Perhaps he will get an Oscar nomination as well. Philip Seymour Hoffman does splendid, as usual.

The writing behind this film is an interesting story. Steve Zaillian wrote this film originally, with Steven Soderbergh directing. However Soderbergh was fired, apparently for using odd tactics for the film, including interviewing the actual players for the film. Bennett Miller was hired to direct the film instead, and Aaron Sorkin was hired for a rewrite. Due to Zaillian's credit on the film, I imagine that Sorkin just touched it up, and added a bit of his own style to it, as you can see from the first line in the trailer above. I imagine that this film will win Best Adapted Screenplay in a few months time, and both will collect the award.

Overall, a fine film, one of the best of the year. I give it a perfect 10/10. You've probably already checked it out, but in case you haven't, go ahead and check it out.