"Overall, I enjoyed watching and learning about the true story of the Oakland Athletics and how baseball was changed because of this team."
(special guest reviewer Viviane was able to catch a sneak peak at the upcoming film Moneyball and has submitted her review of the film to GotchaMovies)
I know absolutely nothing about baseball, and before Moneyball started, I didn’t even know there was a baseball team called the Oakland Athletics. Moneyball had me cheering for the Oakland A’s like a true baseball fan. The fact that this was a true story made the successes and failures of the California team tug at my heart even more. I loved that throughout the film they used real footage of the aired games back in 2002.
It was, of course, a treat to look at Brad Pitt – who plays the real life character of Billy Beane, the GM for the Oakland A’s – but his casual and real acting outshined his pretty face in Moneyball. I thought that was very impressive, because in most movies, I see him as eye candy who happens to also be good at acting. This time it was the other way around.
Despite my love for Brad, Jonah Hill, who plays Peter Brand, was my favorite part of the movie. He was absolutely perfect as the comic relief of the film! I don’t know if Peter Brand is that awkward and funny in real life, but I hope he is because it was wonderful. The two actors have many scenes together and their dynamic was perfect. The humor wasn’t forced and both their natural abilities to deliver humor through their mannerisms added to the film immensely.
Some scenes were slow, but it didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. However, it was random seeing Robin Wright, who plays Billy Beane’s wife, for about a minute. She had no more than three lines in one of the scenes which I thought made the movie seem slow.
The climax of the movie happened a little late in the runtime, which I think made the ending seem rushed. I decided that I really liked the movie towards the end, so I wish had been more of it to watch. I think it would have been better if they took more time to come down after the more anticipated part of the story. I don’t want to give away the details for those who don’t know the story.
Overall
I enjoyed watching and learning about the true story of the Oakland Athletics and how baseball was changed because of this team. It didn’t quite have the effect it did on me as some other "sports” movies, like Any Given Sunday or Remember the Titans, but it still made me laugh, feel good, and have a greater appreciation for a sport I previously gave no attention to.
