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A film about America’s favourite pastime might not appeal to legions of British footy fans, but Bennett Miller’s biographical baseball film has more to offer than most sports films.
Based on the Michael Lewis book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, the film shows the true story of the Oakland Ahletics, who used a computer generated anylsis system to draft their players and win on a budget.
Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the General manager of the Oakland A’s, who enlists Peter Brand (Superbad’s Jonah Hill) who believes that by picking the players based on how many runs they will hit the A’s can compete with the big boys.
After a floudering start and to the dismay of team coach Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), things start to come together and the road to the World Series begins.
The cast is superb, Pitt puts in a performance that will surely earn him an Oscar nomination, Hoffman is his usual consistently great self and Jonah Hill sets aside the silly jokes and proves his salt as a serious actor.
The scriptwriting talents of Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) and Steve Zallian (Schindler’s List) weave an interesting plot that requires little baseball knowledge and should prove a home run come Oscar season.