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Created Sep 24, 2011 11:47PM PST • Edited Oct 07, 2011 09:03PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   Baseball is once again on the silver screen in the terrific new film Moneyball. The tone from the beginning is that this is more than just the average “hit the winning home run” story, but an underdog tale that follows an unpredictable path even though the outcome is well known by fans of the game. There is a justifiable confidence in most every aspect of the filmmaking involved. A very nice leading role for Brad Pitt, as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, and solid support from Jonah Hill, as Beane’s new executive assistant Peter Brand, as well as assured direction by Bennett Miller, makes the film a true pleasure to watch. Another star of the film is the script by Steve Zallian and Aaron Sorkin. The hallowed trademarks of both writers make the film all the more enjoyable. The constant and varied stream of baseball statistics and players involved is, for the most part, made easily digestible for the audience, even for those whom may only know the game from a distance. But, as always in a good film, it’s the characters you root for. And we definitely root for Billy Beane and Pete Brand. The story is truly a journey both these characters take in helping their team rise above what most would consider an impossible circumstance. This film is time well spent at the movies, and a solid entry into the pantheon of films celebrating our national past time.

4. Acting

   Really Great 4.5

   The acting is solid across the board. Brad Pitt is at the top of his game as Billy Beane, general manager of the 2001 Oakland Atheletics, who is desperate to build a winning team with the lowest payroll in all of baseball. It would have been easy for Beane to seen as unlikable, with his volatile temper and occasionally condescending tone to people he doesn’t respect, but Pitt plays the role with enough charm and intelligence that he overcomes these character pitfalls with relative ease. Jonah Hill is growing into a solid actor. His Pete Brand, modern shepard of the current form of player analysis called Sabermetrics, is played with an unassuming wholesomeness that is fun to watch. While everyone handles their roles quite admirably, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is given the least amount of depth as a character as Art Howe, manager of the A’s. What little there is to work with, Hoffman tries to make the most of. But the real fun is watching the business relationship of Pitt and Hill grow into a genuine friendship.

5. Male Stars Awful 0.0

6. Female Stars Awful 0.0

7. Female Costars Awful 0.0

8. Male Costars Awful 0.0

10. Film

    Really Great 4.5

    The film works because the elements of filmmaking are in concert from the beginning. Bennett Miller’s direction is on target, for the most part, and he builds the story in a manner that gives the audience a reason to pay attention. While there are small technical issues that could be nitpicked at length, the film as a whole overcomes those missteps and focuses on what works best – the drive Billy Beane has to create a winning team. The chemistry between Beane and Brand is paramount to the film’s success. Luckily that chemistry is well groomed, and the film is all the better for it. The waves of statistical information that are bandied about could be a bit overwhelming to many in the audience, but as the focus of the story is the characters, so they are the ones left to worry about what all the numbers really mean. That method helps the audience take a step back and concentrate on more important aspects of the story, like Beane keeping his job, keeping his temper in check, and possibly keeping his sanity.

11. Direction Awful 0.0

12. Play Awful 0.0

13. Music Awful 0.0

14. Visuals Awful 0.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Tame 1.5

    Beane’s well documented temper is on display and colors several scenes with angst and anticipation. What could have been a caricature is instead handled as a haunted soul who wants be perfect at an imperfect job, with imperfect circumstances and imperfect expectations. Characters driven by demons can be tricky to pull off, but Pitt plays Beane as someone who accepts his flaws and doesn’t care if the audience can deal with them or not. The very possibility of his temper coming to bear in any given scene creates excitement from one scene to the next.

17. Sex Innocent 1.0

18. Violence Gentle 1.4

19. Rudeness Salty 2.0

21. Reality

    Natural 1.0

    As the film is based on true events, nothing seems out of the ordinary or implausible. The weight of expectation on Beane, by himself, the A’s organization, and their fans is palpable to anyone who cares about what they do. He is driven by the specter of unrealized potential, and the lost opportunities from what could have been his own stellar baseball career as a player. He is so determined to achieve his perfection that he follows a complete stranger’s unproven method of statistical analysis solely on a desperate hunch. The counterbalance is in the form of economics major Brand, who sees the national past time through fresh statistical eyes with possibilities never before considered by the old guard of baseball. The road to a winning team is rife with uncertainty and, at times, moments of doubt. But the desire to forge a new path, and most of all to win, steels their reserve to persevere over the odds and push onward toward their ultimate goal.

22. Circumstantial Natural 1.0

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0