ViewGuide

Created Oct 06, 2011 07:39AM PST • Edited Oct 12, 2011 05:48AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   How do you measure the value of a baseball player’s worth and potential?

   For Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), it involves a complex series of statistics that were frequently overlooked by other teams. The movie Moneyball, based on the A’s remarkable string of success on a limited budget in the middle of the last decade, highlights the use of sabermetrics, a controversial method of evaluating a player’s talent that often flies in the face of conventional baseball wisdom.

   Beane achieved great success by bringing in the geeky Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale educated computer whiz who excels at interpreting statistics in the assessment of players.

   As a sports movie, particularly one based on baseball, Moneyball is accurate and riveting. Perhaps no other sport is as dependent upon the review of numbers and statistics of players. Hardcore baseball fans love to discuss the players by reciting numbers as a means of gauging their success. Moneyball succeeds in showing the importance of looking at the “correct” statistics, not just the ones that have been in favor for the past 100 years. Or as one scout says repeatedly in his assessment of potential players, “He has a good face”.

   Where the movie struggles is in the same details. Not everyone shares the same love of statistics, nor can they recite the batting average of the second baseman on their favorite team, and for them, Moneyball can be a bit confusing. The face appeal of Brad Pitt is soon lost on the movie-going date who doesn’t understand what “on-base percentage” is versus “batting average”. In some ways, it plays more like an “ESPN” made movie, than a Hollywood blockbuster.

   But in the end, the adherence to realism is what makes the movie work. Arguably one of the better baseball movies because it stays away from the cliche’s of other baseball films, and portrays the real-life angst of players, managers, and front office staff, struggling to produce a winning program.

   The baseball action is real, infused with clips of real players and games, and based on a real season, adding a fresh portrayal of baseball to the cinematic landscape.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

   Brad Pitt is very good as Billy Beane, the General Manager who is asked to do more with less than his competition. He captures some of the quirkiness of Beane, and manages to show a vulnerable side that makes his character likeable.

   Jonah Hill is really good in his role as the computer geek who can provide statistical reasoning. He displays his ability to portray a serious role. A breakout performance for him in his young career.

6. Female Stars Good 3.0

   Robin Wright has a small role as the ex-wife of Beane and does an adequate job.

   Kerris Doresy is adorable as Beanes 12 year-old daughter, with an infectious smile and a talent for singing. Known primarily for her role on the TV series Brothers and Sisters, I look for bigger and better things from her in the future.

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

   Philip Seymour Hoffman brings his outstanding talents again in his role as the stubborn manager Art Howe. Howe has been reportedly miffed at the way he is portrayed in the book and movie.

10. Film

    Very Good 3.5

11. Direction Great 4.0

    Refreshingly focused on more of the front office action, the film captures the differences between the baseball “haves” and “have nots”.

    Also provides a fascinating insight into the personalities of big league stars.

12. Play Good 3.0

    A bit methodical at times, while trying to adhere to a story about statistics.

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0

    The infusion of real life clips into the movie reminds us that this is a true story.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Tame 1.5

17. Sex Innocent 1.3

18. Violence Gentle 1.3

19. Rudeness Salty 2.0

    Some language

21. Reality

    Natural 1.0

22. Circumstantial Natural 1.0

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0