Baseball's Truest

Rating: 8/10 (14 October 2011)

I didn't know what to expect when walking into the theater to watch Moneyball. I had some idea but I wasn't sure if this film was going to express a contemporary route or follow the overly used dramatic plot device that all inspiring sports films utilize.
To divulge, Sports have generally taken a common route in the film industry. I mostly refer to the examples of The Mighty Ducks Series, Remember the Titans, Cool Runnings, Coach Carter, Rocky, Miracle, etc. I don't consider films such as the Sandlot or the Bad News Bears to be in the category of inspiring sports films since their main drive for the film is comedy and not the sport itself (Maybe a little of the Sandlot as it portrays America's early romanticism of the sport) These films are always about the underdog who develop a strong work ethic under grand leadership and embody the principles of teamwork with sprinkles of motivational speeches. With hard work, you can achieve greatness. That was the encompassing message that left the audience with these ominous thoughts. Often times, I thought to myself if these films were meant to serve the greater purpose of portraying the "American Dream". There is nothing wrong with these films, in fact, I very much enjoy them both as a child and as an adult, but they have been severely over used and entirely predictable. Often times, the story digresses so far from the actual events that "Based on a True Story" is visibly clear of its true purpose of functioning as a marketing ploy.
When it comes to Moneyball, all conventions go out the window. This film goes so deep to the "base" of baseball, "Based on a True Story" becomes an understatement. Moneyball lies somewhere closer to The Social Network rather than Coach Carter. Witnessing the sport through the eyes of a data analyst and the general manager changes your perception of baseball. As a result, the film makes you understand how Billy Beane has truly changed the game. Moneyball portrays the sport purely as a business rather than with the nostalgic romanticism we Americans associate with baseball. Seeing every play and every player as products and business transactions makes Moneyball in an entirely different category of its own.
Overall, the film is subtly shocking for those who are remotely interested in the sport and pleases the expectations for baseball enthusiasts who want a movie that REALLY talks about baseball. My reluctance in offering it the full 10 out of 10 is its exclusiveness in audience direction. Baseball is not as widely understood as it used to be and I feel as though the film could've have taken a more broad encompassing approach to the topic. The social network was able to grab the audience in whatever direction it took because Facebook was so widely understood way before the film's debut. Everyone had a common ground. Moneyball fails to establish that.