Sets the Oscar bar high.

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2011)

The first genuine Oscar contender to land on our screens, this ostensible sports flick has set the bar very high indeed. Based on real events (and adapted from Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game") Moneyball recounts the ground-breaking approach that General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) took to enable the Oakland Athletics, with their $40m payroll, to compete against sides like the Yankees who had $120m behind them. With only a handful of actual baseball scenes featured – mostly from the 20th match in the A's record-breaking 20 game winning streak – director Bennett Miller wisely sticks close to the utterly gripping off-field drama that screenwriters Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian have superbly eked out with their pens. Brad Pitt proves his sense for picking career propelling roles is still flawless; his turn as the arrogant, charming, stubborn and intelligently forward-thinking Beane is a revelation, surely placing him as the early frontrunner for Best Actor come the awards season that's just around the corner. Throw in a well-measured, heartfelt performance from Jonah Hill and you have a film that will undoubtedly be tagged a classic in the not-too-distant future.