I always look forward to a good baseball movie. I heard Moneyball was pretty good despite taking liberties with the facts. I had not yet read the book and was hoping to enjoy the movie for what it was.
I didn't. Much...
Billy Beane, GM of the Oakland Athletics, has to put together a winning team with a bare bones budget, and uses the new Bill James Sabermetrics to find good overlooked ballplayers.
You can understand them taking liberties with the facts and simplifying the story for movie audiences. That happens when converting to the screen. But if the result is an enjoyable movie it's fine. This one was slow, with stock characters and stock interactions, hitting exactly every point a typical Hollywood movie would. There were some good funny moments, as an Aaron Sorkin script would have. The scene in Beane's office the last day before the trade deadline was worth the price of admission. But it otherwise dragged and you always felt you were watching a Hollywood version of he story. The fact that he was unsuccessful in the long run made the ending anti-climatic, but that's what happened. Has anybody noticed that any part Brad Pitt plays could have been done exactly the same by Robert Redford thirty years earlier or is it just me?
I'm reading the book now and I can't put it down. Definitely rent Moneyball on DVD but don't spend $10 on it.
I didn't. Much...
Billy Beane, GM of the Oakland Athletics, has to put together a winning team with a bare bones budget, and uses the new Bill James Sabermetrics to find good overlooked ballplayers.
You can understand them taking liberties with the facts and simplifying the story for movie audiences. That happens when converting to the screen. But if the result is an enjoyable movie it's fine. This one was slow, with stock characters and stock interactions, hitting exactly every point a typical Hollywood movie would. There were some good funny moments, as an Aaron Sorkin script would have. The scene in Beane's office the last day before the trade deadline was worth the price of admission. But it otherwise dragged and you always felt you were watching a Hollywood version of he story. The fact that he was unsuccessful in the long run made the ending anti-climatic, but that's what happened. Has anybody noticed that any part Brad Pitt plays could have been done exactly the same by Robert Redford thirty years earlier or is it just me?
I'm reading the book now and I can't put it down. Definitely rent Moneyball on DVD but don't spend $10 on it.
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