An Anomalous Oscar Pick

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2012)

Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) makes a successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
I generally agree with Oscar nominations, and at least half of the time agree with the winners. But on this film, I am just at a loss. It is a very good film, but it by no means deserved to get a Best Picture nomination. And Jonah Hill tried to expand his range and escape his typecasting, which is great. But Best Supporting Actor? Hardly.
I also tend to agree with Roger Ebert, but he gives this film four stars. I would have stopped at three. He says, "Jonah Hill's performance is understated and fascinating". Understated maybe. Fascinating? And his review rambles from there, far less coherent than usual (Ebert's love of baseball seems to have clouded his judgment of on film).
If you like baseball, if you like economics, or you like underdog stories... this is a movie to watch. I enjoyed it. I am confused why it got the praise it did, but it certainly is better than the average film out there.