Moneyball (2011) Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt Movie Review

Moneyball (2011)   4/54/54/54/54/5


Brad Pitt in Moneyball (2011)

Inspirational Data Analysis

Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) knows full well as the general manager of the Oakland A's they can't compete with the bigger teams whose player budgets are triple what he has to spend. And he knows that when ever they manage to bring someone in and make them a decent player the big teams are going to swoop in and entice them away with packages that he simply can't match. Frustrated and tired by the way the old scouts operate, knowing from first hand experience their way of picking talent is flawed, Billy turns to Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) a former Yale economics student who has built a system to analyse players data and select them on the pure data rather than anything else. Of course it doesn't go down well with many especially when Billy finds the coach, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), refusing to play the players the system has picked but Billy is all in and believes in the system.

As someone who always enjoys a motivational quote I have lost track of the number of times I have read positive messages about those in business who takes risk. I also often come across quotes about removing those who are negative whilst also those who give up never know how close they were to succeeding. For those who like this sort of motivational stuff should find "Moneyball" an entertaining and frankly a motivational experience as it is full of this sort on inspirational stuff.

Jonah Hill in Moneyball (2011)

Now that might confuse some people because technically "Moneyball" is all about Billy Beane who had once been a talented baseball player who after his career ended up a scout and then the general manager of the Oakland A's. We get to see that when he was scouted as a teenager on the verge of going to University he chose a baseball career instead but never cut it in the big teams. But rather than being about his career it is all about the experience, the journey which has led him to break with the tradition of scouts and to go a more clinical route with data analysis of players no matter what issues they have be it age or nagging injuries. And it is certainly an entertaining look at a man who took a risk to do something differently to everyone else.

Aside from this motivational look at a risk taker some thing else struck me as I watched "Moneyball". In fairness it is some thing which has struck me many times before but this really hit it home, and that is how ridiculously similar to Robert Redford Brad Pitt is. From the way he stands to the smiles he gives and the way his hair moves, quite simply if "Moneyball" had been made 20 years ago I would have had Robert Redford in the main role with Brad Pitt playing the teenage version in flashbacks. But Brad Pitt also delivers an engaging performance bringing both drama and humour to the role which is needed as does Jonah Hill as data analyst Peter Brand.

What this all boils down to is that "Moneyball" is a good movie, it entertains, informs and motivates. But that is where its real strength lies as the motivational side of "Moneyball" makes it a movie you will end up returning too when you need some inspiration and encouragement.

Tags: Baseball Movies


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