A fantastic bio-pic direction with brilliant performances for the serious audience.

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2012)

KNOCKED UP, SUPER BAD, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL all have one thing in common and that factor is Jonah Hill. The almost lavishly round Jonah Hill is widely known for his appearances in movies with involving teen seduction, intimacy and drugs abuse in some degree. Jonah Hill who is now 28 years old is seeking to stretch his talents as an actor and reach out to a more diverse arena of motion picture. If I am not mistaken this is the 2nd time Jonah Hill is taking on a role of this caliber following his performance in CYRUS. Playing the character of Peter Brand in the bio-pic MONEYBALL alongside Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt came to me as a surprise. Now that I have seen the movie, it is a crime that I do not highlight his sheer brilliance. If there was one thing the reader needs to know about Jonah Hill is that he is versatile and he is no more the young boy who is in search of intimacy, instead he is a grown man now with an Oscar Nomination to his name for the Best Supporting Actor category for this performance.
Furthermore MONEYBALL is by far my number one movie when it comes to a Brad Pitt performance. With 4 Oscar Nominations to his name, words would fail me in case one would not know who Brad Pitt is. Whilst Pitt has taken on some quite challenging roles during the past 4 years this indeed is his best. Portraying Billy Beane; the man who changed the game of baseball management, he plays it with utter precision that I am now convinced to take up learning baseball. Baseball as a sport never has been my forte; however MONEYBALL to me speaks beyond the umbrella of baseball. It is how decisions are made in the business of sports. Sports of today are a multimillion dollar industry and Pitt's performance makes it so much interesting to learn. At glance Billy Beanes character seem to be just a bland angry general manager who is stubborn and yells at everyone on his payroll. As the movie unfolds its 130 minutes the audience begins to learn who the man Billy Beane is and why he is the man he is. In fact Brad Pitt's performance is convincing that now when I Google a picture of Billy Beane it's as if I have known his work all my life. Brad Pitt adds character to his face in the viewer's eyes.
Biography movies are director Bennett Miller's strong suite. With only 2 motion pictures (CAPOTE & MONEYBALL) to his name (Both Bio-Pics) Miller has convinced me that he is strangely talented. 2 movies, 4 Oscar nominations including 1 win for the actors he has directed is a trademark of Miller being a "no nonsense" director. Obviously characterization is paramount in Millers to-do list whilst in the director's chair. It now isn't a mystery as to why MONEYBALL is as successful as she is. The time spent on minute details is fantastic. The scene in which Peter Brand informs a player that he is been traded to another team is one fitting example of attention to detail. Another would be when Billy Beane and Peter Brand are in the office making choices on what player to recruit. The mentioned aren't scenes with any dramatic events; they are instead straightforward situations where Miller utilizes it as a point to tweak the characterization. It sounds corny what I am about to say, it seems so wrong how he does it, but yet it is so right!
In a readers perspective one may wonder why I rambled on for half a page on the acting and the directing and avoided discussing the movie on its own. The answer is quite simple, not everyone watches a bio-pic. A bio- pic isn't necessarily the most entertaining movie of the year. Those who watch a bio-pic are mostly interested in finding out what exactly happened during the time the person lived or did what he/she did that ended up with him/her having his/her own movie. Hence what is critical is the acting and how the story unfolds. This movie enthusiast enjoys savoring his movie experiences and basking in the gloated detailing of characterization done by the director and his cast
A fantastic bio-pic direction with brilliant performances for the serious audience. The story of Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics General Manager. A man whose methods were considered unorthodox by the industries best during the time, a man who has been questioned about the decisions and the choices he has made and a man who proved himself right! If you are a fan of biographies this one tops THE IRON LADY.
TITLE: MONEYBALL DIRECTED BY: BENNET MILLER STARRING: BRAD PITT, JONAH HILL & PHILIP SEYMOUR Hoffman RATED: PG13 RATING: 08/10 133 MINUTES