Another triumph from the "Capote" director

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2013)

With all of the focus being on who can make the loudest, use the most spectacular visual effects, it's amazing that this movie made any money at all.
Forget that this movie has major stars like Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in the cast, although they do their characters justice (these are probably the most subdued Hill or Pitt characters you have ever seen). The main reason why it works is because of the really fascinating story behind it.
It could have been easy to make the character of Billy Beane into an arrogant jerk, who thinks he knows more than anybody else. Pitt makes the wise choice to play a guy who has nothing to lose and is willing to think outside the box. But he is also humble enough to know that he can't do that alone and quickly realises that he needs somebody like Hill's character, Peter Brand. Brand is the quiet introvert who is brilliant, but doesn't think much of himself. He just turns out to be exactly what Beane needs. It is a lot of fun to see Pitt and Hill play off each other. There couldn't have been a more odd couple in the history of cinema but they have undeniable chemistry on screen.
The movie handles baseball as a business, where it is the latest thing you have done that counts. That is usually what people remember. In comes the manager, played by Capote actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. It is of course necessary to make general manager and the manager into adversaries in these types of movies, but Hoffman plays it without the usual cliché of screaming and lecturing because he knows more than the boss. They may hate each other but it is never the main conflict in the show. That goes to Beane's self-doubt about what he is doing and why he is doing it. Again, Pitt handles it beautifully, especially when we learn that he has an ex-wife and daughter. Watch the scene where he is trying to put on a brave face when his team is about to go to the dumps. There is also a hilarious scene featuring Spike Jonze as a more than understanding 2nd husband to Beane's former wife. Simply brilliant.
I could go on and on about this fantastic film, but just to add a little more. Were it not for filmmakers like Miller who does these character driven stories so well, we would be forced to read books, just to get the noises out of our heads from the latest superhero flick in theatres.