Let me be up front: I am not a baseball fanatic. I respect the sport, as I do most sports. However, the history and methods of the game are generally foreign to me. That being said, you may wonder why a film like Moneyball captivates and even inspires me?
Well, the same reason all great sports stories (including movies) do. Moneyball (based on the 2003 book by Michael Lewis) centers on the 2001-02 season of the Oakland Athletic's, who at the time had the lowest budget of any baseball team in history.
At the end of the previous season, their best players were transferring to other teams with bigger paychecks, while general manager Billy Beane questioned the methods that have been used in the game for decades, from the way potential players were drafted, to the skills and qualities numerous scouts were looking for, and even the fact that certain players were being overlooked or looked down on because they lacked certain qualities. Then, Beane came across the idea of sabermetrics (via Paul DePodesta), a statistical approach that chose players based on their on-base percentages as opposed to their appearances, ages, and personalities.
Moneyball (released in 2011) is one of the latest examples of a story that isn't so much about sports as it is about going against conventional wisdom and redefining the way things are done. (Watch the trailer here.) And in doing so, value and meaning is found in those that are undervalued--or, as Yale graduate Peter Brand (DePodesta's on-screen counterpart, played by Jonah Hill in the film) says, "like an island of misfit toys". Consider a scene where Beane contemplates the last game of the season, which (no spoiler, really) followed a 20-win streak for any team since the 1920s. "I want it to mean something," he tells his young protege.
If the first thought in your head from reading that line is sentiment and cheesiness, everything in this film throws it out the window, thanks to director Bennett Miller's skilled direction, first-rate and committed performances from Brad Pitt (as Beane), Hill, and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman (as field manager Art Howe); and attention to detail that's genuine, thoughtful, and game-changing. Everybody involved in front of the camera and behind it knocks it out of the park. The same goes for the beyond-brilliant inclusion of This Will Destroy You's "The Mighty Grande Rio".
Rocky inspires people to overcome personal odds. Chariots of Fire paints two contrasting character studies that are equally compelling and real. Field of Dreams recalls how sports make us feel and how they connect us. What Moneyball does is embrace change and the undervalued, while avoiding being one-sided, despite various criticisms and controversy on both ends (a topic of discussion that continues today). This film (despite some strong language) is universal in the way it authentically illustrates how business works, how to best show professionalism, and how to deal with the outcomes and yet still persevere.
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| "This better work. [pause] I'm just kidding you." |
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