Moneyball
Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Robin Wright and Philip Seymour Hoffman
Releasing in cinemas: 10 November 2011
Rated: M
Pitt and
Hill on the winning team
A
knowledge of baseball would help in appreciating the finer points of Moneyball, a fictionalized true
story about a controversial method of selecting potential players. I
was lost at times by the technicalities. Be that as it may, exceptional
performances by Brad Pitt (at times reminiscent of a young Robert
Redford) and Jonah Hill, lift this above the average sports movie.
Based on Michael Lewis' book, much of the film deals with the
behind-the-scenes machinations rather than the actual games.
Billy Beane (Pitt), general manager of the Oaklands
Athletics baseball team, has a problem as his best players at the end
of season are picked off by more wealthy clubs. His low payroll budget
is just a fraction of his competitors’ bankrolls. However Beane meets
up with Peter Brand (Hill), a young ambitious Yale economics major, who
finally convinces Beane the most effective way of picking teams is to
use analytical statistics rather than scouting and dollars. Hiring
Brand puts Beane at loggerheads with his unenthusiastic coach Art Howe
(Philip Seymour Hoffman). We learn that, as a youngster, Beane was
considered a baseball star of the future, but he never made the big
time.
Brand researches players who have been overlooked because they are too
old or injured, but have special undervalued skills, instead of trying
to recruit star talent. Replacing his lost players with such misfits
seems a recipe for disaster, and at first there's a losing streak as
the stubborn coach refuses to cooperate. Beane, pig-headed and prickly,
was in favour of a hands-off approach, but now has to become more
involved with his team for any success to be on the horizon.
The film is under direction of Bennett Miller (Capote) from the intelligent script
by writers Aaron Sorkin (The Social
Network) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s
List). As you would expect from this team, Moneyball is a notable portrait of
the success-driven Billy Beane finely etched by Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life). He’s
balanced by the totally different and owlish Peter Brand, neatly
captured by Jonah Hill (The Invention
of Lying) in a top performance. Hill is a 'Billy Bunter'
lookalike known more for comedy roles, but shows he can certainly give
of his best in drama. Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March) is perhaps
underused, appearing more rugged than usual having cropped hair, and
playing the coach with a studied indifference to change.
Robin Wright as Beane's divorced wife, while given top billing, has
scarcely time to take a deep breath before she disappears from the
screen. Making a bigger impression however is Kerris Dorsey as the
delightful young daughter Casey, stealing the limelight in a
heartwarming scene with her touching song. The conference where reports
on prospective players are aired is a highlight - marks are
deducted for a player having an ugly wife! Pitt shows his dominance of
this scene with snappy dialogue. The first part of the film remains the
most intriguing, then it seems laboured at times - judicious tightening
would have helped the pace.
Cinematography has a darkening aspect, a tenancy to low key, so low
that fill lights seem to be omitted in many interior shots, and the
actors appear almost in silhouette. It's a little quirky in a sports
film, and may have been due to the projection at my screening. Perhaps
it was deliberate, to create an unsettling atmosphere.
In the wash-up, an unusual, Moneyball
is a well-acted sporting film, most appealing no doubt in the USA where
baseball is a religion. The little guys winning over the big guys is a
theme universally applauded, so with Brad Pitt and company, Moneyball should have appeal to
local audiences.
John Bale