Review: 'Moneyball'

Film: Moneyball
Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt and others
Director: Bennett Miller
Rating: ****

When I heard that Moneyball was a film about the all-American sport baseball I wasn’t thrilled. Not being a sports fan, the prospect of watching a 2-hour film on baseball was already making me yawn. Even the thought of getting to look at Brad Pitt didn’t help much.

Boy was I in for a surprise.

Based on a book by Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and the life of William Lamar Beane, the film Moneyball tells the story of Beane’s struggles and hardships as the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team.

Brad Pitt, in probably one of his finest performances, plays Beane, the GM of an underrated team that is constantly in need of funds. Due to lack of money their best players are constantly snatched away by wealthier teams. It is Beane’s life’s mission to get his team into the major league and actually win. He is joined in this endeavour by the quiet Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), an economist, who uses computer-generated data and statistics to analyse different players in order to determine the worth of each player on the field. Beane uses this very unconventional method in order to put together a winning team despite heavy opposition and ridicule from senior board members.

Beane tries hard not to get emotionally involved. “It’s hard not to get romantic about baseball,” he says more than once.

Moneyball is a nice change from the conventional baseball films that usually follow the same pattern, starting with a character trying to make it as a baseball player and ending with him hitting a home run.

The film is not so much about what happens on the field as it is about what happens off it. It’s not about the fans or the thrill of on-field action or hot dogs and sodas, in fact, there are very few field scenes altogether. The viewer gets a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing that goes into making a team as the players get traded like candy.

Brad Pitt delivers a powerful performance as Billy Beane. He seems to pull off the determined, smooth faced yet troubled role with such ease that it seems tailor-made for him. Jonah Hill after films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to The Greek, Knocked up etc, had built up this image for himself of a strange, remotely adorable nymphomaniac. In Moneyball you get to see Hill’s true potential. Hill plays the role of the introvert geeky analyst to perfection.

Moneyball is a must watch for all baseball fans. I would recommend even the non fans to give it a go; you might just end up unwillingly liking it.