Moneyball - 2011

Moneyball

I like baseball movies better than baseball.  They skip over the boring parts.  Of course I like a live game of almost any sport better than watching it on television.  My husband can watch hours of sports and I just can't wrap my head around how it is interesting.

With baseball movies, you get to skip over all the boring stuff.  You see the big plays and there is comedy or drama mixed in between.  One of my favorite all time movie scenes is in "Bull Durham" where the team is gathered at home plate discussing what to get another player for a wedding gift. 






Brad Pitt is Billy Beane.  I will admit complete ignorance on who this is.  The only baseball general manager I can name with any confidence is George Steinbrenner.  But that is only because of "Seinfeld". 

He is very subtle in his role.  He moves smoothly and while we see flashbacks of his journey, there isn't much explanation of his motives.





Jonah Hill is Peter Brand, an economics major with a different view on how to win games.  I don't see how he convinces Billy to buy his theories, but they both go all in.   He was nominated for best supporting actor, but I just don't see anything different from what he's done before.  Is is just that he's in a drama instead of a raunchy comedy?





Philip Seymour Hoffman was on screen and my husband recognized him first.  I didn't realize he was in this movie.  He does a lot of standing around looking ticked off.  And his hair is really short. 





They did a good job with the  daughter.  She looked like a real twelve year old.  She was riding that line between Barbies and boys, not sure which she liked better.

Overall it was an interesting movie.  There isn't a big game or miracle finish.  They give minimal investment in the players themselves, turning them into numbers and stats.

There is a great scene near the beginning with the scouts.  Almost all played by real baseball scouts.  They sit around discussing the players to go after. 

They reject a player based on the attractiveness of his girlfriend.  They claim an ugly girlfriend is a sign of low confidence. 

It was a good movie.  Was it a best picture movie?  I don't know.  It was a good baseball movie but I don't really have the urge to see it again.  Now if "Field of Dreams" comes on, I am watching that one.