Moneyball

I went into this movie with a skeptical attitude. Generally, I don't care for movies about sports, but we had some discounted tickets to use up before expiry, and this was one of the only movies that was appealing. I've got to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this movie. Don't get me wrong, it is still a movie about sports, and while I didn't LOVE it, I did like it.

The movie is about the Oakland A's which are a small market baseball team, which I didn't know. I knew of the Oakland A's, but I didn't know they were a small market team. The movie follows the A's through a rebuilding year after the loss of three of their best players to free agent status. Instead of going the tried and true route of using scouts to find players on the cheap, the general manager, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) hires Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) as an assistant GM; Peter believes that the old method of finding ball players is the wrong way to go. He thinks that by using science rather than scouts, you can analyse player statistics scientifically, and put together a winning team.

Moneyball is based on a true story, and while Peter's strategies didn't work out for the Oakland A's, the same strategy did work for the Boston Red Sox who implemented the same strategy, two years later.

I thought the movie was pretty well acted, I really liked Phillip Seymore Hoffman as the manager, even though he had a smaller role.

I'd give Moneyball 4 out of 5 stars.