Moneyball ☆☆☆☆

The multi Oscar nominated Moneyball unfortunately left with no awards this year despite being up for best film, actor, and supporting actor. Of course it was up against The Artist and there really was no competing with a silent black and white film no matter how good a drama it may be.

Moneyball is based on the true story of Billy Beane, former baseball player and current (2001) General Manager of the Oakland A's. The team are failing with players being poached left right and centre, a severe lack of funds, and an old fashioned approach to selection and coaching. By chance Billy meets Peter Brand in a player negotiation who advises his boss not to trade a player from San Francisco to Oakland due to a series of statistical analyses on his performance.

Billy is no fool and recognises Pete's potential and is intrigued by the idea successful teams are made of players who get on base rather than if once in a while score a home run.
So they embark on a controversial plan to employ ball players mostly shunned because of a quirk, injury, or age. And with this baseball is changed forever.

Now you may have been reading the synopsis of this and thought 'what? Why does a film about a sport I (if not from USA) know next to nothing about?' and I'll admit I am actually a fan. I lived in the states for 6 months and saw the Oakland A's play (and beat) the Boston Red Sox. However I do not think you need even the slightest interest in the sport as the story is told so well. And if course it's an underdog tale so any Brits watching it should have no trouble getting behind it.

The story mirrors what happens in almost all the major sports anyway, the biggest and richest teams get the best players. They could all be called Moneyball as there is little loyalty to be found if the pay-check is large enough.

The film is a well crafted and tightly woven drama. It is the type of film I compared The Artist to in my review, one that requires the understated performance.
Brad Pitt never stops delighting me as an actor, and here he delivered an Oscar winning performance, had he not been up against Jean Dujardin.
He is so emotive and believable, especially in his interactions with his daughter. You begin to care about the team when he starts taking a more dynamic role with the players, especially those he has given a chance again after injury has rendered them ''unplayable''.
Jonah Hill (Superbad, Knocked Up) is remarkable, I slightly wondered if his nomination was because there weren't quite five outstanding performances so he got lumped in to the Oscars, but that was entirely wrong. As Peter he has an almost determined nerdy-ness that his statistical theories can work on the field, whilst also quite clearly both petrified and in awe of Billy - as Jonah himself most likely felt working with Brad.
He is also a very likeable character, rooting for the underdog players and giving them their chance.
One such underdog is played by Chris Pratt (Everwood, Bride Wars) who has a dodgy elbow after nerve damage so cannot be catcher anymore. The few highlighted players all are convincing, there is no hammy acting, instead you feel the world of sport is so demanding and unfair that players who can still win games are relegated if it takes extra work to build them up again.

It has been filmed in much the same style as an American TV show called Friday Night Lights (about a high school football team) with hand held cameras and a lot of dusky shots and close ups of people's eyes. It's an effective method for putting the audience member 'in the moment'. Decision making has a pace to it as players are traded like monopoly hotels, bought and sold as commodities.

What I really enjoyed about this film was that nobody treated it like an easy ride. Heart and soul was pushed into this film by everyone involved, which is something you see in the crowds watching baseball games.

It is a simple enough story, but told so well it is an undeniably fantastic drama. As Claudia Winkleman said on Film 2012 it was so good it made her care about a sport she had never seen.
The whole cast are brilliant, Kerris Dorsey playing Brad Pitt's daughter was incredibly professional, and her interactions with Pitt were completely believable.

I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys good drama. If worried about being confused about the baseball references then just accept that you might well be, but let them wash over you. Good drama doesn't need a whole lot of explaining, and an underdog remains the same whatever sport their playing so just go with it and root for the little guy. In my opinion this was 133 minutes well spent.