The latest entry in the
echelon of baseball movies is Moneyball, a biographical sports drama that
exclaims, "Show Me Less Money!" In the film, former slugger and Oakland A's general
manager Billy Beane is tormented over a recent epiphany: the lack of a salary
cap in professional sports creates an unfair advantage for top market teams over
smaller markets with smaller budgets. As a result, teams like the Yankees thrive
while teams like the A's continue to struggle. To level the playing field, Beane
hires a Yale statistician named Peter Brand, and together, the two embark on a
mission to completely revolutionize the game - signing athletes based on sabermetrics
or less subjective gauges of player performance. Adapted from Michael Lewis' book,
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin
follows up The Social Network with another dandy, transforming off the
field player management and analysis into compelling drama. And with razor sharp
wit and delivery, Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are sensational together, hitting Moneyball
clean and out of the park.
