Moneyball: Review By slysnide

Based on the 2003 book by Michael Lewis which broaches a new approach to assembling baseball teams via economics & mathematics, director Bennet Miller's film about the sabermetrics technique broached by Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane in the 2002 season doesn't try to tell a cinderella story, nor tries to be in any respect. For truth be told, the Athletics were below that "fifty feet of crap" for a long time, and haven't really shined lately, despite Beane's loyalty to the team.

My first ballgame was at the Oakland Coliseum in the early nineties. The A's lost to the White Sox with such bad averages that we left a couple innings early to catch the uncrowded BART train. I only remember the experience of being there, looking through binoculars, and not wanting to leave. My next two games were at Sacramento's Raley Field with the minor league Rivercats against one of the Sox and some other team. The stadium was much smaller, and therefore it was much easier to actually watch the game. I finally got why people liked going to ball games, as I didn't require binoculars or digital scoreboards to see what was going on in the game. The last ballgame I was at was in Phoenix in July 2006 with the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. L.A. Dodgers. Naturally the Diamondbacks won as I expected and wanted. That was a much better major league game as you could actually see everything, and get everything that was going on. Granted it was over a decade after that A's game, but I could tell it was better. As for actually watching the sport, my favorite game was on 20 October 2004 when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in game seven of the ALCS. It seemed more like a World Series Victory than the actual series that year which was a total shutout for the Red Sox, making it somewhat uneventful to watch by comparison. In 2010 I was hyped for the Giants win, and couldn't believe Game Six last Friday night in the World Series when on two attempts the Texas Rangers couldn't score a strikeout for their first win. So while I like baseball, I certainly don't watch it that much, with the exception of each World Series. So I saw this film because it revolved around the A's, and because I find the sport better than all the others.

Brad Pitt's take on Beane may or may not be accurate. I have never seen the real guy, but given this is an offbeat sports movie, then I'm not going to judge. Let's just say it's a different role for him. He was good, and the supporting cast was the same; Including the upfront typical baseball personality manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), which the real Howe was upset with for being portrayed as that average traditionalist. Also, Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington (Brent Jennings) appears as a coach under Howe whom also thinks Beane's plan is nuts. Beane meanwhile doesn't care about breaking records or winning the world series, despite that scoring a ring is his reason for sticking with his team, as the result of it would meet his ultimate goal of redefining the team by relying on sabermetrics rather than looks, and whether or not the players can walk the walk and talk the talk. Beane's optimism is questionable at times. Likewise his lack of enthusiasm when the Athletics are on their way to breaking the American League's all time winning streak. This made Beane by himself be intriguing, and the constant grasping for more seemed typical for such character's Pitt has played in the past.

As for his deputy--the assistant general manager--Jonah Hill was cast as Peter Brand--a composite character given the profile of a Yale graduate who majored in economics and scored his first job for the Cleveland Indians--who comes off as the quiet genius, yet isn't comical like other such characters who don't blend with such environments. He's straight up with people, despite being a bit too wound up about it. So he definitely wasn't being funny in this film as opposed to all his other roles. Miller had participated in a mockumentary for the film "Knocked Up" (2007) playing himself as co-director under the premise that the studio thought Judd Apatow was incompetent. Perhaps this is where he met Hill, and is thus how he got cast in such an offbeat role when compared with his resume.

As for the director Bennet Miller, he'd not directed a film since his highly praised "Capote" (2005) which Philip Seymour Hoffman starred in. He only directed one other film prior to that; the doc*mentary "The Cruise" (1998) about an NYC tour bus guide. Miller had mostly made a career in commercials and music videos. His style here was similarly paced, though with a more energetic feel to it. You could be really in the moment in some scenes, and just wanting others to be over with, like about all of Beane's scenes with his daughter (Kerris Dorsey) which are just pitiful to watch as they seem so out of place. Or the awkward moments of trading & replacing players, including just outright firing them with no amenities. You get through these though, and Miller throws the typical 'feel good' atmosphere of a sport's movie which comes off better than in most sports films where you know the team will win. Simply put, it's better because this is a true story, and winning isn't everything. That's made clear from the outset. Thus, the Athletics could lose big time, which can still be a letdown, but since it's not the point of the story, you're not bored when watching them inch closer to breaking records, and thus the fact that it's based on true games makes the outcome expendable. So there's actual anticipation as to the results of these games--if you're not an avid baseball fanatic that is. So Miller's approach to selling this early works in the film's favor, for while this is a baseball movie, it's not a locker room movie with grandiose morale boosting speeches from the coach--which they nod to mockingly with Beane's clear inexperience at this--but rather a manager's office movie; enhancing the seemingly mundane aspect of a phone call to determine which players they can score at low prices. Likewise, David Fincher failed at this in "Zodiac" (2007) when he had to cut the final scene of the "getting the warrant" fiasco when test audiences weren't feeling it as the judge who must sign off was off screen speaking through a two way radio like speaker box. The fact that Miller makes this work is an achievement, albeit a different scenario with similar purposes. So overall, Miller really scored with this movie.

While it may not have made bank in box office profits, Bennet Miller's adaptation from the screenplay by Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin nailed the concept of sabermetrics to a T. While I'm glad I used a free ticket on this, it was still a good movie which was better than your average 'feel good' Autumn sports movie. Definitely see it if you're a baseball fan. If not, but if you like sports, then check it out anyway as it gives a whole new approach to assembling teams besides the average roster requirements. If you're not a fan of either, then skip this as you're not really going to see anything new from any of the cast members, and Miller's career is too short to truly be anticipating his films just yet. But what I can definitely say is that Billy Beane's strategy has the potential to become practiced by at least the losing teams in the coming years.