Not earth-shattering, but quite an experience

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2012)

*** out of (****)
Going into "Moneyball", it was moreso dependent on my absolute Aaron Sorkin fetish and a quite intrigue in digesting all the Oscar-buzzing films I could possibly take in. I was never a fan of Pitt. Don't get me wrong, the guy has the chops, but he never astounded me before. Well... now he has. In this 2011 baseball extravaganza, Pitt gives it his all and Sorkin knocks this one out of the park (pun-intended), with his incredible script. But let's not have director Miller's thunder stolen away with this very competently directed picture.
The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.
Solely looking at the premise, I merely just copied and pasted, seeing as how I couldn't summarize it better than if I tried. Anyway, what's interesting for this review is that I've never been drawn to sports. Being a heterosexual male, you'd probably revoke my penis card, but in all honesty, I really haven't, especially baseball. But you know what? With the way the story was presented, I actually was indulged in the premise. That and having some spectacular performances didn't hurt either.
The cinematography is just the icing on the cake. The scenes in this film are just beautifully shot and all around are an enhancement to an already solid movie. However, this isn't the movie I expect to either get an Oscar or create an earth-shattering hoopla. The film does take awhile to get the ball rolling and the resolution isn't entirely all that satisfactory, but what we have for the bulk of the movie is good.
All in all, "Moneyball" is not entirely what I expected it to be. Coming from a non-sports addict, it impressed me in more ways than most films of this genre did. That truly says something about the performers, the director, and the writer(s). This movie isn't going to be the best of the year or break records, but so what? In a time of lackluster sport movies and clichéd barrels of boredom, "Moneyball" is a nice exception.