David and Goliath

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2014)

Do you have to like Baseball to enjoy this Movie?, you ask. Well, sort of but not really. It is a David and Goliath Story at Heart. Some claimed that the Statistical Emphasis that was put on the Game with Spreadsheets and Algorithms removed the Heart and Transplanted another Head.
But, the Truth of the matter is that Baseball and most Pro Sports have been doing that in varying degrees ever since Yankee Manager Casey Stengel invented the Platoon System and Baseball Managers started bringing in Relief Pitchers to go Righty against Lefty and vice versa. In the NFL, Dallas Cowboys' Coach Tom Landry was Famous for his Stat Sheets, and so forth.
So really nothing new, just MORE emphasis on Stats and a redefining of a Players Worth versus His Salary is what Moneyball, the System, the Book, and the Movie lays out for us to take or leave as a Viable Visionary Format to Embrace Wholeheartedly. Funny thing is, the Jury is still out.
But in a sense it doesn't really matter anymore, because the Money Teams, now Privy to the Method have the Resources to use it and still Buy Whomever they please. As a Movie this Dry Number Crunching may have Limitations as Entertainment, but that didn't stop Wall Street (1987) and while in a Sports Movie, it does manage to be a bit Wonky but still Entertaining.
There is much Back and Forth about Romanticizing the Game, and Winning doesn't matter, unless You Win the Last Game and so forth, and it all gets a bit Ambiguous. The Movie's Drawing Strength is the Appeal of "The Little Guy". The always present Yankee Haters can attest that Rooting for the Underdog is an American Pastime.