Movie review: Moneyball

Billy Beane is the general manager of the struggling Oakland Athletics baseball team. Their team gets mauled and he is looking for some inspiration to turn things around. He hires an economics graduate from Yale who is good at statistics. His methods shock the setup and they upset the so-called experts. Billy slowly turns things around and leads the team to 20 successive wins – an all time league record. But, the last win of the season continues to elude him. In the end, he gets a record offer for 12.5 million USD from the Boston Red Sox but he rejects that and stays at Oakland.

Highlights

• The characterization of the coach is inspiring. Always proactive, thinking about baseball, spending some time with his daughter, being forthright, bold and always ambitious. Brad Pitt, with lines of wisdom on his handsome face, pulls it off with ease. His bouncy body language and the charm are intact.
• Jonah Hill is a guy who entertains with his mere fat presence. His serious dialogs don’t matter

Comments

• For an Indian, a movie about baseball doesn’t exactly hit the bulls-eye. The terms used, the strategies, stats etc. are quite alien.
• A bald Philip Seymour Hoffman is grim and serious throughout the movie with his makeover attracting more attention.

VERDICT

One of the most unwavering sporting movies with Brad Pitt shouldering the burden gamely.

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Will try to post more sports based movie reviews …