2011 baseball movieRating: 15/20 (Jen: 17/20)
Plot: The somewhat-true story of Billy Beane, ex-ballplayer and GM of the small-market Oakland Athletics. Going against traditional baseball logic and the advice of his team scouts, Beane leans on the advice of math whiz-kid Paul and attempts to replace three key players lost to free agency with misfits no other team has much interest in. After a slow start, his team begins winning, giving credence to his oddball ideas.
This is a solid movie with some good performances (Full disclosure: I had no idea that was Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe) but the music gives it the atmosphere and depth of a television drama and more than a few Hollywood touches keep things a little flat. For a die hard baseball nerd, this is a real treat as you get in-depth look at the innards of a professional baseball team. I especially liked, even if they weren't all that realistic, the phone conversations that Beane had with other general managers as trades were (almost) discussed and dealings were done. There could have probably been more baseball action, but it might have distracted from the real story. The combination of actual footage and reenactment was really well done though. Pitt "just talks" his way through this (Jen's words, not mine) but has enough personality to make you want to follow the character around. Initially, I thought his story meandered a little too much, but it all came together nicely at the end. The "annoying" little girl (again, Jen's words) who played Pitt's daughter (Kerris Dorsey) was really good in limited screen time. Also given screen time: actual baseball player Royce Clayton as Miguel Tejada. Oh, and that White Sox first base coach (Tom Gamboa) who was attacked by drunken fans in Kansas City. No, that can't be right. He must have been a Royals first base coach attacked by fans in Chicago.
Chad Bradford, the guy with the goofy wind-up, trivia: Bradford would literally scrape his knuckles on the pitcher's mound dirt occasionally when he threw pitches.
3 comments:
This is one of those films that was better than it had any right to be, but was still disappointing. My main issues were not giving any credit to Sandy Alderson, the A's previous General Manager who introduced sabermetrics (the film makes it seem like it was all Beane's new idea), and the fact that the movie's two emotional highlights were a streak that wasn't broken and a job that wasn't taken.
Pitt is very good, and the two times the daughter plays her guitar made me tear up because I'm a big wussy. The characters and relationships were very well done and fleshed out, and it is great seeing an intelligent and fairly absorbing baseball drama. "Moneyball" just lacks a more cohesive and compelling storyline, and the real-life story needs more emotional punch to be a great movie. Also a 15.
Your review makes it seem like Jenn disliked the movie, yet she gives it a 17/20. I myself give this little tale an 18. I liked Pitt and the job he did, and over the years he has come to grow on me as an actor. (The first time I really liked him was in Oceans 11....before that I just thought of him as a Robert Redford pretty boy.) I enjoyed this film from beginning to end, and my lovely gal pal, who does not follow baseball at all, was similarly enchanted. Of the films nominated for Best Picture this year, this would be my pick.
Bean should have taken the Red Sox job. He really should have.
But the Red Sox were still cursed. And his daughter called him a loser repeatedly...
I can't explain Jen's 17/20...when I asked for her rating and got that answer, I was surprised. Her description of the little girl as "annoying" was probably more for what she did on a television show, 'Brothers and Sisters,' than anything here though.
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