Director: Bennett Miller
Writers: Steven Zaillian,
Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis (book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning
an Unfair Game”)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah
Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Steven Bishop, Kerris
Dorsey
“Moneyball” is another film
from last Fall that plays just as well the second time through as it did the
first time. Upon my first viewing of this movie, I was impressed mostly by the
whole concept behind Moneyball, the science of selecting a team that will get
you the most wins, and the character’s (and filmmaker’s) ability to convey
their theories in clear ways that made sense and made it look like they were
right. This time I was more impressed by the randomness of it all, the way it
seemed these guys were just swinging at the fences and thanking their lucky stars
they hit one out of the park.
I think that last line
really sums up what draws anyone to sports as a profession, or even just as a pastime.
A long time ago, my father hitched my wagon to the New York Football Giants as
our family team. We stick with them through thick and thin. And let me tell
you, there’s a lot more thin than thick. That’s the case with any sports team,
because at the end of each season there can only be one champion. The odds are
against everyone. If we stop to think about it, we know that, but we go through
each season thinking that this season is the one. Every once and a while, it
does end up the way it did for the Giants last season. When that happens, the
elation makes it all worthwhile. It’s those in between times that really define
us though. Nobody knows that better than the man who popularized Moneyball, Billy
Beane.
Read my original review
here.
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