I had high hopes for Moneyball (Rialto) and not because it stars the world's sexiest father, Brad Pitt. My hopes were pinned on the screenplay being partially written by Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The West Wing and The Social Network.
Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Brent Jennings, Ken Medlock
Rating: (M)
Four stars (out of five)
Now sports people are not as verbally dexterous as politicians or internet geeks, so Sorkin does not get to give us his trademark rapid-fire speeches - dialogue so intricate you're afraid to cough lest you miss something.
What the Moneyball script provides is a character study of a man as hard and driven as any Clint Eastwood drifter cowboy - if thinly disguised as a laid-back surfer dude type. Pitt plays Billy Beane the general manager of the Oakland A2s, a baseball team that lacks the money of the sport's big guns.
Beane's role is to buy the players for the coach, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), to deploy. Beane's lack of finances force him to think radically and buy in players that are undervalued. He does this by recruiting a Yale economics graduate, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who analyses players by spreadsheet rather than the old-fashioned looking-at-them-play method. They call it "moneyball", but even if it works will it be enough to satisfy the driven Mr Beane?
Best thing: What seemed a weakness, on reflection, became a strength. Moneyball does not play by the normal sports-film narrative of a low followed by redemption, because it dares to ask the question, can sport really provide long-term redemption?
Worst thing: This film needed a Brad Pitt to even get made, and he is up for a Oscar for it, but he is not an actor who can fade into a role and when you are playing a real person that is a liability.
See it with: A fan of sports statistics.
