Review of Moneyball (2011) by Gerardo R — 26 Jun 2013

A solid drama about the Oakland A's General Manager in 2002. The Oakland A's are a smaller budget team in a league where the payroll of teams are deeper than can be imagined. It is a movie about the administrative and upper level management. Often, administrators are not seen in a positive light, but this film manages to adroitly present one General Manager in a sympathetic light while also not overlooking the brutal nature of the game where some are released for financial reasons.

The only characters that are fleshed out are Brad Pitt's character and Jonah Hill's character. Everyone else must make the most of the few minutes they share with the principal characters. Yet the film makes the most of the scenarios where second tier level of characters interact with the main characters. The scenes are effective and convey enough substance for the viewer to appreciate the circumstances and emotions of each scene. A way for the film to have been much more stronger would have included more material on Brad Pitt's relationship with his ex and daughter. This approach would have given his character much greater depth and range of emotions and possibly explore character flaws that would have made his character more realistic.

Nevertheless, we share with the hero the emotions and hopes of his strategy as it unravels throughout the film. The film also uses appropriate stock footage from the actual baseball games that advanced the movement of the plot. An excellent film and maybe the best film on the behind-the-scenes drama at a sports club.