Moneyball

by Tyler Darke

      Let me start this review by saying that I am not a baseball fan and sports movies are generally not on my list of favorites. That said, this is the second baseball movie we are reviewing and I have to say...I enjoyed both immensely.

      Moneyball is not only a baseball movie that I enjoyed. It is my favorite sports movie of all time. Before watching it, I had not seen many movies with Brad Pitt. I had seen Fight Club and although I may lose all my readers by saying this, I hated it. When I first heard about Moneyball and learned that he would be playing the lead role, I cannot say I was excited about it. However, my fellow blogger Harry really wanted to see it, so I agreed to go with him. I am so glad that I did.

      The film is a fantastic adaptation of an epic baseball story that most Bay Area sports fants are familiar with. It highlights the unorthadox style of management that Billy Beane brought to the Oakland A's. After seeing his performance, there could not have been a better actor to play the role of Billy Beane than Brad Pitt. This movie definitely made me a fan, and since watching it I have seen a couple of his other films and very much enjoyed them. He balances the various aspects of Beane's personality and management style perfectly. When he's angry, he's furious. When he shows love, it's deep and emotional. When he's dealing with executives, it's in an unexpected way. He has a great sense of humor that adds a fantastic comedic aspect to the movie. The role was phenomenally played and Brad Pitt deserved the Academy Award for Best Actor. Jean Dujardin could only dream of delivering such a performance, but I will refrain from diving too deep into that side of the subject.

      Another surprise performance was delivered by Jonah Hill who played Peter Brand, assistant general manager to Billy Beane. Before seeing this film, I really only knew Jonah Hill as a comedic actor. I was not aware that he was so talented as a dramatic actor. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. His performance was fantastic. His chemistry with Pitt was obvious and really made the duo more believable. Although I was pulling for Max von Sydow to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting actor, I felt that Jonah Hill was very much deserving of his nomination. I believe it will be the first of many for him in his acting career, and I am excited to see him win it someday.

      Moneyball is an outstanding film that I would recommend to anyone. Do not miss out on this movie because you are not a baseball fan. It is worth seeing for anyone who enjoys a good drama with some thoughtfully-placed comedy. 10/10