TIFF Movie Review: Moneyball (2011)
Well acted and effortlessly told, 'Moneyball' is a hit
Photo: Columbia Pictures
Moneyball is just as much a sports movie as any other. It's got the drama of winning and losing and there's a "your job is on the line" kind of risk-taking that keeps it thrilling. But for some reason it feels different than other sports movies. Perhaps it's because the way it approaches the sport. It approaches the game as an economics problem, but even still it isn't a film that dedicates itself to analysis. Director Bennett Miller (Capote) has taken a story centered on a major league baseball team using stats and math formulas to recruit players and build a team on a budget and given it a heartbeat. It never tries too hard and settles into the story nicely, making for a very enjoyable movie with a sense of faith, trust, teamwork, loyalty and desire at its core to go along with an excellent lead performance by Brad Pitt.
The cast includes Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Kathryn Morris and Chris Pratt. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Moneyball" is a Columbia Pictures release, directed by Bennett Miller and is rated PG-13 for some strong language. The running time is 2 hours 6 minutes.
Before A's manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) can think about the loss he's already having to figure out what he's going to do about next season as his three top players — Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen — already have their foot out the door, ready to sign contracts the A's can't match. With a budget $75 million less than the major market clubs, Beane is fighting a losing battle, unless he can come up with a way to beat the odds.
Going against years of baseball tradition, Beane hires Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale economics graduate that believes he's cracked the code to building a baseball team. It's not about having the biggest bat and the best fielders as much as it's about the percentages, on base percentages to be specific. The film follows Beane's radical decision to adopt Brand's methodology (which actually uses the findings of Bill James), preaching an "adapt or die" motto that's either going to end his professional career or make him a baseball pioneer.
The film is well acted from all corners. I don't have a single negative thing to say. Pitt delivers the kind of performance that can be overlooked because his actions are subtle. Sure, he has a few clubhouse outbursts, but even then it isn't about throwing a tantrum and securing an "Oscar clip." Nothing about Moneyball reeks of trying too hard. Instead it tries just hard enough to make it all look effortless.
Jonah Hill was a question mark for me walking in, but he's a perfect partner to Pitt. Both underplay their roles to such an extent that it brings a certain energy to the picture when they're together. It's proof positive an actor doesn't need to scream their head off or bawl their eyes out to prove they can act. If anything it's even tougher to tap into a character and make them seem real, which is exactly what Hill and Pitt have accomplished.
Philip Seymour Hoffman isn't in the film as much as I expected him to be as A's manager Art Howe and Robin Wright is in it even less as Beane's ex-wife, a side story that also involves his 12-year-old daughter, giving his character one more layer rather than simply resigning him to be an ex-jock and current general manager. It would be easy to pick on this part of the story, but to exclude it would diminish Beane as a character. With it we learn he's not only passionate about his job, but also a good father, and the story doesn't spend a lot of time hammering it home.
The screenplay from Steve Zaillan and Aaron Sorkin hits all the right beats. I was especially happy it wasn't loaded with too much of Sorkin's signature dialogue, which is great, but in this film it just wouldn't have fit as well as it does in his more politically driven pieces. Sorkin's wit and talent to turn a phrase remains, and combined with Zaillan they make a powerful duo.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out Wally Pfister, a cinematographer that's made a name for himself recently with Christopher Nolan's Batman films and his recent Oscar win for Inception. Pfister is, in my opinion, one of the best cinematographers out there right now when it comes giving a film a pristine and polished look yet he keeps it authentic. I can't imagine a better film for such a talent than a baseball movie with the lush greens of the ballpark and the long stadium corridors. But even more than that, Pfister's blacks seem to resonate with as much color as the greens. He simply paints a beautiful canvas.
Overall, Moneyball is just plain solid and it's hard to believe Bennett Miller hasn't made a movie in six years since being nominated for an Oscar for Capote. And now he comes in and, excuse the phrase, knocks this one out of the park. He knows just how much to give and how much to take back. The camera occasionally moving in slowly, or quickly cutting to a close up for varied levels of impact and it's all done seamlessly. The emotional range of the work here is excellent and it's all done in a film that can just as easily be sold as popcorn entertainment.
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Really pleased to see this review after the underwhelming trailers. Looking forward to it.
The trailers are cut to appease a general audience. I shared your concern, but they don't do the film justice.
What do you think about its awards potential? Is it a factor in the best picture race? Screenplay? Acting?
Just out of curiosity, I know it's a great grade but what kept it from an "A" or "A+"?
Yes I was curious about this myself? You said in the reveiw that there was not one negative thing you could say about the film…. so why the "A-" rather than just a straight "A"?
I am, however, even more excited to see the movie now than I was before because of your reveiew.
he's picky
If you ask me, being picky is good. I prefer a reviewer who is very critical than one who just automatically gives how high ratings.
Nothing negative about the acting not the film. However, to answer your question, there isn't anything particularly wrong with the film, and the only thing holding it back from a higher grade is that level of "wow" factor. I think it's an indescribable quality that makes a film an A or A+… more of a "you know it when you see it."
Good to see Bennett Miller back in the saddle.
This film quickly is becoming one of my most anticipated films of the rest of the year. This now has a real bet at BP
I love baseball and I've always been looking forward to this. Was a bit underwhelmed by the trailer but I'm really excited for it now.
Your review said there's no rating by the MPAA yet. I know the rating. It's PG-13 for some strong language.
Can't wait for this movie. Headline by Sean O'Connell at Hollywoodnews.com is: "Brad Pitt “Moneyball” buzz and a “Goon” sale lead today’s TIFF 2011 news" and Steven Rea, another film critic headlines his article "Pitt on deck for Oscar nomination"