Moneyball

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Plot: Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is general manager for the relatively poor Oakland A's, and he hires chubby statistics geek Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) to help remake the team on a limited budget. Peter and Billy use obscure statistics to trade for cheap, unconventional players, and trade away their stars. Manager Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and everyone else is skeptical. There is a sub-plot with Billy confiding with his daughter Casey (Kerris Dorsey.)

Review: Top story telling turns this unlikely plot into a tense, feel-good drama. I liked this movie a lot once it got moving. The characters are engaging, and the story has built-in drama. There is enough development of Billy's homelife to get into his head, and enough baseball to provide drama. Predictably the A's lose and then start winning, and director Bennett Miller creates all the suspense he can. 

The performances are all good, and the directing is snappy. Moneyball starts slowly, but the characters get more involved and the dialog gets better. Only great writing and directing could make a winner out of such an unlikely story. A best adapted screenplay Oscar should be in the bag already. I'd like to see an Oscar nomination for Brad. 

The visuals are strong, and twelve-year old Kerris Dorsey's song was great, but the rest of the soundtrack was forgettable. 

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Kerris Dorsy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Rating:   4.0 stars: A strong movie, strong performances, and a nice pro-technology message. Best movie of the year so far.  

More: Yeah, nerdy geeks with Excel spreadsheets are Heros! Why wouldn't I love this movie?

The Real Billy Beane

Even more: Here is a picture of the real Billy Beane.

Yet more: Someone should apply these principles to running the government.

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