Baseball is for some what religion is for me: I see the appeal, and I would never take it away from anyone, but I also would never stand in line for it.But you don’t have to love baseball like me to love Moneyball. It’s one of the best movies of the year (along with Limitless and Bridesmaids), and is based on the book about Billy Beane, the General Manager of the Oakland A’s, who was forced by budgetary constraints of his team's small market to find a way to field a competitive team for less money. (Nice side note on this movie, retweeted by my friend Rob: “At a reported $47 million, it cost Sony more to make Moneyball than it cost the A’s to field their entire 2002 roster.”)
But what’s great about the script, co-written by my favorite writer of all time, Aaron Sorkin, is that it doesn’t focus on the sport or even Beane’s revolutionary statistical analysis of players; it’s about revolutionizing a system. And it’s about relationships, between Billy and his daughter, Billy and his young protégé, Billy knowing as a former player the tact needed to cut or trade a player. And it’s all driven by the same unique voice Sorkin used to write The Social Network.
Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane not as a cocky guy so much as a guy feeling the enormous pressure he’s put upon himself to succeed and not let down everyone in his life. He’s a good dude. And in this day and age of horseshit like “The Jersey Shore,” it sure makes me wish awful people were a lot less confident.
See it.
